TRAINS
We sat around a small table on the train to Bordeaux
My kids had dolls and they placed them by the window
The dolls loved the French countryside.
***
On the night train to Switzerland, I sat in the smoking car
It’s been such a long time ago, the time of smoking and non-smoking cars
I drank coffee
I opened your letter
I missed you
I still keep that letter somewhere.
***
As a student, on the train to Naples
I forgot to validate the ticket
The conductor gave me a fine.
I spoke Italian
But we could not communicate
The fine cost me my dinner.
***
I have a photo of myself on a train
I am by the window, smiling
Outside, a snowy mountain
Somewhere in the north of Italy
I love to think that’s in Domodossola
I love the name of that station
My favorite fermata
Where I never got off.
***
On the train to Seville
My sister-in-law travelled with her wedding dress
The other passengers complained about the size of her luggage
We picked a fight
The dress arrived intact
And also did the groom.
***
I will never forget the hell train
The night trip from Thessaloniki to Trieste.
We had to cross Yugoslavia
When it was still Yugoslavia
Before Servia and Croatia
Was bathed in blood
And suffering
They sold us a ticket with seats who didn’t exist
The war probably started on that train
***
I learned my first words in Greek on a train
The train from Patras to Athens
Efharisto, parakalo, ouranós, portokáli
Thank you, please, sky, orange
A trip of many hours and many faces
Where everyone talked to each other
And shared food
In Covid times I missed even crowded trains.
