Toy Trains

why does my life go so slowly
and still screech on the rails?

why do i get so nauseated
when i look out the window when the train's moving?

what deal    did i make
with that seedy little guy
standing outside the rail station
on the day i hired on here?

   look    he said
   a roof    as big as the one over the landscape

and i thought he meant the sky
not this little thing
i see
when i huddle under my desk

from Purgatorial (2004)