To Catch a Train
(A Free Style Poem)




The cinders
scramble at my feet,
along the iron track,

With ties
spread out in measures made
to upset my youthful gait,

While
Buddies heckle at my back.

As train rolls in
along the curve
that slows it to
a pace for which
fools would wait,

I charge off reaching
for the cars
that clatter by
in endless rows.

I hasten to my fate!

Before black engine gathers steam,
and the piercing whistle blows,
I race to match the pace
of traffic flow ,
and strain to hop that train.

But then,
just as the burnished handle,
beside the open car,
brushes against
my finger tip,
while I stretch to catch
a purchase on the bar,

At my fastest power burst
my footings slip

and then

I trip.