The trains of Norfolk Southern rumble
past the new cafe. It's the same line
that carried vinyl chloride in 2023,
when something overheated and 38 cars
derailed on the edge of East Palestine,
Ohio. Think of the rain that must have
hissed and crackled in the aftermath.
Of dark plumes rising into the earth's
free troposphere, as families packed
their children and pets into cars
and drove away. A couple of years after
cleanup, some people have returned
but some have stayed away. I don't
blame them. How does anyone know
the earth has no more toxins,
if air and water particles are
no longer sheathed in emissions?
When even one coupler misaligns
and a railcar wheel slips the track,
your mind runs away with it— You won't
even have time to blow kisses or wave
goodbye, in the brief moment of cartoon
suspension after you're run off a cliff.
Purveyors of fine poetry since 2003.
