Issue 12: 8:45AM AMTRAK PDX TO TACOMA

poetry from the window of a train

Have you traveled by train lately?

This week’s poem was written first as a free-write as I sat on the Amtrak this Fall, headed to see my best friends in WA for a reunion trip. I love to sit by the window and watch the world pass me by. 

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8:45AM AMTRAK PDX TO TACOMA

this is the last week the leaves will fall.
the sun filters through a gloomy sky.

my favorite trees are the golden yellow
ones, with their own sort of sunshine

before the bleakness of winter. I am
always surprised by the many ponds 

found behind the trees here. this is the
totality of the forest, its immensity and

all that it hides. even the Colombia,
no matter how many times you see it,

its hugeness, its ripples like an endless
lake, overtakes you with its depth.

from the window we pass over it, 
the barges stationed along

the water, barges packed at port,
barges with piping steam, barges against

a grey factory with rolling hills of
rubbish, flattened cars, human waste.

you can’t tell what those plumes are,
is it the telltale mist or just the smoke of

burning trash? oh what a mess of
this beautiful place we have made.

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Write Your Own

Next time you need to travel, see if you can take the train or your local bus or metro. During your trip, keep a journal of your running thoughts. What do you observe out of the window? What about your fellow passengers? Write down details, smells, observations, descriptions, or do a stream of consciousness free-write in your journal or scrap of napkin. Use this free-write as the foundation for a poem.

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Poetry Commission Giveaway

Just by subscribing to this newsletter, you are automatically entered to win a custom poem, written on my typewriter just for you! For extra entries, check out my Instagram, @megancrayne. I’ll be announcing the winner on my Instagram on December 23rd.

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Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a great week!

\\

Megan