The Crowded Train Poem by Thabani Khumalo

The crowded train
Meandered swiftly below the Bosman bridge
Like a slothful serpent that slipped in a hole
In its extreme sound rolling transversely echoing the quiet town.

The crowded train
Headed for the township really late –
Late in the thick of the night, it cut the dense darkness
And stopped again at a bright lit place.

The crowded train
Had in it a yelling priest
Who yelled so loud he’d split the corporeal soul
And detach it from the Godden spirit.

The crowded train
Pounded loud with fuming men
Who chanted angrily and loudly with songs –
Liberation songs from the bygone times.

The crowded train
Was overflowing with awkward men –
Men who stunk from soul to crown,
And men were packed as logs in transit.

The crowded train
Had in it some entrepreneurs
Who vigorously jolted for the hustle:
Dragging the wagons of the bargain for life.

Somebody’s mistress rubbed my bosom mildly -
My bosom mildly with her bust and nob
And so I swore to God on my life today
To never-never board on a crowded train.