correspondence to mary:

i am having a hankering for long train rides today
and my thoughts go to russia
and the plains of africa

and she wrote something like:

hell. yes.

so i wrote back:

seriously

and then since i had more time i added:

trains across russia
across india
across africa
plumes of steam
books to read
and the gentle rocking of the cars at night
stopping in cornfields for hours
arriving in foreign cities in the hours before dawn
when everything is silent

that is the kind of day it is
like i said before.
the world is wide
and endless
and also fits on a map on my bathroom wall

some days i find it hard to imagine
that anyone was ever the first person
to arrive anywhere

train rides
my mind whispers
train rides east
as my eyes eat the ocean and sinks in all the mystery that lies west