JULIE TAYLOR GREEN
★ ★ ★ ★
POETRY
Image by Ana Martin
A Poet on the Train
I looked for him on the train
but didn’t see him again, totem
sign that there is order
in the flow of mortal time.
We are all going somewhere,
he with callused hands
curls springing from under
the hardhat, a book of poems
tucked in a cargo pocket, Rilke
or Levertov—trying to get
where he is going. To what lust
what yearning?
I nod to a nurse, a student
with a portfolio, familiar
passengers within the fitful
movement, all searching
for that which sustains.
Through fog and sometimes frightening
sun, friction, dream, the chanced upon
dancer, a beat, a bright conversation
numbed by speed and passage
of time, we move, trying
to stay awake.
The view of the city contracts,
into the silent faced commuters
shadows on smooth bark,
and still we wander unresolved,
mute or receptive to encounter,
each a turn, muse, or risk.
May I desire for you? Do you
know desire is time? Young man,
I wish you time and small
encounters that sustain.
Julie Green is a retired museum curator, wife, mom, lifelong choral singer, and fanatical arts advocate. She writes on her living room couch with her dog, Tashi as muse. She is currently finishing a novel and putting together a chapbook. Her work has appeared in several journals including Slant, The Reach of Song, Circle of Women (Emory University), and Naugatuck River Review. She is the 2023 recipient of the Herbert Shippey Award for Excellence in Southern Poetry, and the Low Country Award for Short Story given by the Southeastern Writers Association.
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Brilliant poem Julie!!!
Elevates the mendacity of commuting to a source of imaginative projection.
Simply beautiful!
Love this! I was never this insightful on MARTA.
LOL – you gotta let your mind wonder on Marta for sure.
Love this! Great work Julie!
Thanks Vicky!
Beautiful and imaginative and so intricately described! Wow.