A LITERARY JOURNAL PUBLISHING STANDOUT TEEN WRITERS AGES 13-19
MEN WAITING FOR A TRAIN
by LOIS BELOVED (Australia)
Issue 2.3 December 2020
![train platform in sunlight](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ee5f75_f46f6ab0c1b84b9fa6149d900e01fbaf~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_48,y_0,w_769,h_577/fill/w_600,h_450,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Stocksy_txpd93d3f88N4v200_Small_4214.jpg)
At first they stand, orphaned, like a line of birds,
First on one foot, then the other, in unison,
Like any other unnamed someones, as if poised
For a firing line, until someone thinks he knows
A train is coming in the sparrow-morning light,
And someone else taps a pack of cigarettes
Against his gloved hand, not exotic,
But it’s as if he’s slipped into captivity. One
Of those corner-of-the-eye, white-sky
Days, late winter a hammer against the
Platform, and gathered above the grave-
Line of the gap enough snow
To consider the blue clouds floating,
Like forgiveness, above us all.
Whoever screamed just then,
Then quieted, then shouted, high, like a crow,
Leaves me filled with absence, listening
For silences, cupping my ears. For
A moment, nothing is being celebrated,
Nothing undone, or measured, nothing
Moves, or rings, in the air, and in the next
Moment sirens are continually dying in
The distance. In the time it takes the train’s
Doors to open, and close, and for the train
To swirl us all off, half in, half out, of
Our own wills, underground, something
Like joy pours out of the cloudburst heart,
And whatever feelings each one of us has had
Goes off into the daylight without us.
Lois Beloved, age 16, is an aspiring writer from Australia. She often gets inspiration from everyday situations such as waiting for a train. Lois's only hope is that her audience will be able to experience the beauty in simplicity through her work.