Train Ferry
Good-bye waves
Before 7am
Are fewer, as
Early travelers depart
Loved ones at home,
Allowing them to return
To bed,
After the Traveler
Gets up and dressed.
For the trip west
Grab the suitcase,
Hop on a streetcar
Whose mule is steady
And awake, already
Hard at work.
Board the train,
Settle into the compartment
For the trip west,
Amidst the organized chaos
That is business travel.
Tune out the sounds
Of the locomotive.
Ignore the smell
Of burning coal.
Focus on the riverfront
Loading, unloading
Moving the goods in demand
Around the country.
The turn of the wheels
Brings on a light transe
All too quickly broken
As the train slows,
Approaching the ferry landing.
Relative quiet.
Locomotive and cars
Roll down the landing
Onto the boat.
Smells from the dock
Give way to fresh air as
The crossing begins.
Again, the sensation is
Short-lived.
The loading process reverses.
Locomotive leaves the boat.
Train re-connects.
The Journey West
Begins in earnest
From Algiers.
©2020 Edward J. Branley
