–I’d rather you didn’t feel it necessary to tell him, “That’s a fire. And what’s more, we can’t do anything about it, because we’re on this train, see?”
How it should happen this way
I am not sure, but you
Are sitting next to me,
Minding your own business
When all of a sudden I see
A fire out the window.
I nudge you and say,
“That’s a fire. And what’s more,
We can’t do anything about it,
Because we’re on this train, see?”
You give me an odd look
As though I had said too much.
But for all you know I may
Have a passion for fires,
And travel by train to keep
From having to put them out.
It may be that trains
Can kindle a love of fire.
I might even suspect
That you are a fireman
In disguise. And then again
I might be wrong. Maybe
You are the one
Who loves a good fire. Who knows?
Perhaps you are elsewhere,
Deciding that with no place
To go you should not
Take a train. And I,
Seeing my own face in the window,
May have lied about the fire. – Mark Strand
From Reasons for Moving
Atheneum, 1968
2 Responses
So much to read. Hard to do so.Love the one by Mark Stand who’s not w/us
any longer. Elaine
Elaine – thanks so much for commenting. You know how long I have loved this poet and just about everything he wrote. He will be missed, but I’ve got everything he wrote (including children’s books) and can read him whenever.