Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SPRING NIGHT, by ELISABETH GOOLD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SPRING NIGHT, by                    
First Line: The train's whistle blats impatiently ...
Last Line: Along the earth.
Subject(s): Railroads; Railways; Trains


The train's whistle blats impatiently through the still air.
Its noise draws nearer -- nearer.
It sounds like a hundred million feet
Clad in straw sandals
Running down a ramp. Suddenly I am conscious
That only the echo is running --
Now only a sullen roar, with the persistent moo of the iron beast
Lingering -- lingering.

Someone's voice calls out "Fine time. See you soon." A car turns the corner,
Its gears shrieking like the prolonged scream of a man
Upon a rack.

Spring scent enters the open window.
Not the lush, round, velvet scent of magnolias,
Nor the slender stab of ecstasy that is honeysuckle,
But a misty green-violet one -- the new green-grass smell, first crocus,
hyacinth sweet, daffodil pure --

I feel myself floating in the center of a white tulip.
I look out and see the pale quarter of the yellow
Dryad of the sky.
Silver beams slide down the lip-smooth sides.
Sway, dip -- dip, sway -- in undulated movement.

The train still mutters distantly;
My eyelids close.
Blue night holds me close.
Sway, dip --
I sleep while spring in satin slippers moves
Along the earth.





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