Train
click-clack
slight back and forth
back and forth
light-dark-light-dark
quick tunnels
a line of thoughts broken
returned to
broken

Switzerland
white slopes
young rosy-cheeked skiers
frauleins snug in tight gray flannel
breast-gloving sweaters
awaiting the thrill of fast
body leaning into the wind
the push-off of will

you can hear excitement
joi de vivre
in the German
as I sit in my English old age
gin, tonic, cigar

the train slinks on the mountain
above the wriggle of sun-brilliant river
a squirm of fire in a white frozen valley
an onion-dome of prayer
a clump of houses like lint
on the sheets of snow drying in the cold

here for a tryst
Ruth from Zurich
brunette, high-cheek bones
but bad tobacco stained teeth
she shouldn't smile
but she does
I overheard her conversation
an American friend

you can see the light, the dark in her eyes
that jump in the anticipated leap
in meeting Hans
her father does not approve

Beautiful body
I can see
I can imagine
a long time ago
another father didn't approve

I wouldn't tell her don't
but Hans is all Porsche, sport, laugh
a long time ago
I remember
girls listened to their fathers
but the other
did settle down
job
career
would have learned languages too
if

I would tell her don't
but not because of the father
find someone who would love you
bad teeth as well as the shape of your breast
of your rump
of the excitement between your thighs
find someone who would hold your hand
and need nothing else

I remember trains of events
A long time ago
And here I am a passenger
Looking at snow
Possibly poised for an avalanche