on the train

It makes me sad that we have to do this
Pick up a tray
Take off our coats
Place them with our bags
Watch them being watched
As they go through a scanner
We're just catching the 10:10h
Across the plain
Through orange and olive groves
Passing lemon trees glinting
In the low winter sun breaking over the sierras
Once the only barrier between Murcia and the Mediterranean
Snow on the mountain tops to the west
Reflected as a patch of thin cloud brushed on blue sky
Washing hanging out on east-facing balconies
At the station tickets scanned by an inspector
Accompanied by an unsmiling young man in dark blue
Black belt heavy with a pistol
We're just catching the 10:10h
It makes me sad that we have to do this

~

CLP 07/01/2025