Freedom Train Trilogy
Freedom Train...
The modest homes of the Borough of Queens
Are sturdy in their contrast to high Manhattan
Across which I saw drifting
The ashen smoke of the fallen towers
From this outpost of the city, a week after 'nine-eleven'
The tallest flagpole you could have imagined
Stands military-straight above a score of tollbooths
And the twelve lane thoroughfare of cars
Makes me feel like a visitor from a previous time -
But it's still that old union flag, however high it stands
Not a seat is empty on this sleek metal tube
That runs on its barely-subsidized tracks
Through a tiny stretch of the vast coastline
Stealing a peek at the brave Atlantic
A child concentrated on video games
Lends no mind to what her father sees. Around them,
Many tongues, ancestries, the faiths -
Fanaticisms held in check
By laws crafted for the needs
Of those who harness this diffusion
The airport which swallows the planes swooping low
Across the municipal towers of Newark
Is named for some primary notion of freedom -
But see, here is a passing Freedom Train
Gliding by the piles of industrial rage,
Seeking better ways and better days.
Train of State....
This train rides hard on buckled tracks
Through countryside so dark of late
Its owner's debt borne on its back
Its debtors all too profligate
Catch this train while best you can
During its long deceleration
Anticipate its sudden fall
Towards a deep degeneration
In service to an indigent nation
Consuming the loans of its eastern station
Secured by traded legislation
[...] Read more
poem by Frank Bana
Added by Poetry Lover
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