She lay on a torn mattress;
Consciousness departing.
Her body quivering
With every chill running down.
Her little brother,
Sitting quietly by her side,
Clutching her cold hands.
Her lips moving slowly;
Slurred indecipherable murmur.
She only wanted to see the train---
They ran,
Through the yellow mustard field,
Chasing the train,
Laboriously chugging along,
Bellowing black smoke.
The wispy clouds drifting,
In the clear autumn sky.
She, pulling her little brother along,
Failing to keep up.
---The ineffable joy of seeing The Train.
She had seen this,
In her dreams over and over again.
It was so real,
She could swear it had happened.
It was only an illusion,
A dream.
She lay on the torn mattress,
Every long drawn breath,
Dragging her to her last.
She looks at her brother,
As if to tell him something.
A sudden gasp,
And everything falls silent, still.
A tear rolls down,
Her eyes shut, forever.
“All I wanted was to see the Train”.
It was only an illusion,
A dream,
An yearning, never to be fulfilled.
