Two Trains Chasing Schedules

Two trains chasing schedules
      Elizabeth to Newark

This commuter six-car
      And the multi-car freight alongside
Hulking boxcars blocking out the sunrise
      The trains moving up and back
            As if their respective motormen
      Were frustrated race car drivers
            Dragging like in a scene from rural teen mythology
                  See who will chicken first
      See who will reach the sweetheart's multicolored kerchief

            The rails split
      The freight's path bends right
Commuter six-car speeds straight ahead
      Playtime is over
The race is done
      Or at least this heat
This wake-up call

Come back and play tomorrow

Two trains chasing schedules
      Elizabeth to Newark


For Conversations With Walt
Denis J. Kelly
July 6, 2011