by Tony Schanuel
Train as Conduit: 7th & Lemon Avenue, Some Town, USA
I hate it when the train ride’s over
& all the people grab their belongings
in the overhead bins. It’s the same
exasperation as deboarding a plane,
everyone going nowhere all at once.
People wanting things their way
& no one else’s. It’s okay because
I’m the same. Unless I don’t have a
connection & who doesn’t?
The brave, young woman with a toddler.
Her skin, as smooth as his,
fleshy peach tone with a hint of graham cracker.
Healthy like Sardinians from a Blue zone.
The old man with khaki pants
& a sky blue polo. He’s weathered brown
like fried bacon. The teenager who’s wired
to multiple devices. He may as well be
in a hospital bed, pale as the sheets
they tuck in so tightly that he can’t
possibly breathe.
The conductor makes an announcement
that I don’t understand, not one word.
He must have a mouthful of metallic marbles.
I ask the passenger next to me what he’d said.
She shrugs & asks Was there an announcement?
The air in the depot is stagnant. I smell
popcorn & rain. A uniformed woman
asks me if I need assistance or information.
I tell her that I’m waiting on my person
but thanks for asking. Do I look that needy?
I call his cell phone & leave a message:
Just arrived. Where are you? Will wait for your call
or eventual appearance.
I usually bloom where I’m planted,
but today I need new soil. After one hour
& ten minutes, I board a train for a new time zone.
John Dorroh travels whenever he can. He often ends up in people’s kitchens exchanging culinary secrets and tall tales. “Through food there is communion,” he says. Six of his poems were nominated for Best of the Net. Hundreds of others appeared in fine journals such as Kissing Dynamite, River Heron, Feral, Burningword, and North Dakota Quarterly. He once was awarded Editor’s Choice Award from a Midwest journal with a monetary prize large enough for two sushi dinners.
Tony Schanuel is an award-winning photographer and visual artist who has fused a professional background in photography, digital technology, and painting and mark making to create fine art that transcends those mediums. His work has been featured in Digital Imaging Magazine, Computer Graphic Magazine, Wild Heart Journal, St. Louis Design Magazine, and is a featured artist in Cyber Palette and Extreme Graphics, two books showcasing digital artists and their work. He has exhibited at the Florence Biennale and his art is held in private and corporate collections including the Fine Arts Museum of Houston permanent photographic collection. http://www.schanuelphoto.com/.