Let Us Consider The History Of The Rails Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

the history of railways
leading back to what?
to vanished platforms

designs in the mist
stairways into the clouds
vintage trunks bound

and delivered and lined
with green satin
the odd book of Latin

the Family Shakespeare
tears embedded in old garnets
and the heirlooms unwrapped

at the wrong destinations
let us study the timetables in the cold
where the fog is rising the sighs of the departing

the forlornest heart
times times Time the scars incurred

considering what went before
the illusory journeys back
the unexpected journey home

from vanished wars
into the infinitudes.

mary angela douglas 22 april 2017