Sometimes, friends, poetry happens. I've been thinking about the name Union Pacific in poetic terms ever since my March road trip. Somehow, in a way I can't articulate, I have blog comrades Reya & Dave King & Delwyn to thank for this poem happening when it did, as I found something clicking after reading their posts today at According to the Cosmology of Reya, Pics & Poems & a hazy moon. Odd, since none of these posts really had to do with the poem's theme(s) - or did they?
If this is #1, will there be more? That remains to be seen - I never make poetic predictions. But I hope you enjoy this one.
Union Pacific #1
landscape at 8,000 feet the rocks’ iron bones the
cranial frigid mesas the wind turbines off kilter swoosh
a freight train skating over the tableland west of Cheyenne be-
tween the sagebrush & the fog & cell towers a
tourist log cabin advertising wi fi espresso Native American
gifts a toy train skating across the styrofoam table a yellow
locomotive a line of rust orange hoppers hauling coal &
graffiti west the pump jacks’ nodding grazing for natural gas
I will always be lonesome & the radio only speaks static
at this elevation
Laramie in a blue fog light has dis-
appeared from the rearview how many miles back a copper
bust of Lincoln hulking over the highway I will always be
lonesome at this elevation a freight train skating across the
great divide the cold grinding of couplers this morning at
19 degrees at the Rawlins’ siding I will always be
traveling thru time between the blue blue fog & the
sagebrush & a series of semi-trucks clattering &
whooshing over the great divide
which is lone-
someness made stone & wind & a longing for a
home amongst the fog & freight trains
Jack Hayes
© 2010
Love the freight-train rhythm of this and the repetition of "I will always be lonesome". The sound of a train has, for me, always evoked a sense of longing, and you've captured that here. (I also really like how you credit your blog friends with the trigger that enabled this poem to begin.)
ReplyDeleteHi T: Thanks--so glad you liked it. It's kind of a re-working of a "prose-poemish" (as opposed to actual prose poem) piece I did while on the road, tho I didn't look back at the "original." Those three posts really clicked in some subterranean way.
ReplyDeleteThis is great, John! I've been in that stretch of country, and this poem evokes the feeling of the place very well indeed!
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the title in my blog roll, I couldn't help but think of Arthur Honegger's tone poem Pacific 231, and especially of Jean Mitry's 1949 short film (which he called an "essay") built on the music. And wouldn't you know, somebody put the film up on YouTube. Check out this classic!
Hi Roy: I actually have "Pacific 231" on an lp--with "Ameriques" by Varese on the flip side, & something by Milhaud too--haven't listened to it in ages, but it's great music! Glad you liked the poem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention. I have to say that I didn't recognise my contribution, but it was a fab' ride anyway. I don 't know the territory, but reading your lines I felt as though I did. Best of all was the finish. Unexpected and ringing.
ReplyDeletewhich is lone-
someness made stone & wind & a longing for a
home amongst the fog & freight trains
Greatly enjoyable.
Hi Dave: It would be hard to define connections between your post & the poem (or w/Reya's or Delwyn's posts either) but I do believe that reading the three posts sparked it in some way. I agree that the ending is the best spot--I might tinker with the middle a bit, tho my general tendency these days is to tinker as little as possible. Glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteFor me, the word "always" unlocks something about the nature of sadness felt in a landscape that is indifferent to human emotion. Stone, wind, and fog persist and endure, and in joining forces with them, the "I" shares in an always that makes even lonesome a worthwhile thing to feel, larger than one self and than one's self. Very moving! (Pun duly noted.)
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey: Yes, "lonesome" is always larger than oneself! So right. I've tinkered with this a bit--will send you the revised form when I have time for emailing later today! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI like how I was waiting for a third "I will be lonesome" but instead came the words "I will always be traveling thru time".
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of beauty and poetry in lonesomeness (a compensation for the burdens of it).
There are many images I enjoyed (like "cranial frigid mesas"), and I liked the humor in the log cabin (which you think would lead to authentic, lonesome living, just you and nature, but no there's wi fi and espresso too).
Hi HKatz: I love the comment about the beauty & poetry of lonesomeness compensating for its burdens. There's truth in that! Glad you liked it--I've revised it a bit & will post the revision some time later in the week.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to checking in on Sill of the World.