Durango to Silverton ============================ San Juan Mountains before
Red Mountain Pass ////////////////////////// Train wrecks as two parts of me collide
One an historic relic >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<< one high speed bullet train
Sense impressions intermingled ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~with a coruscant intellect.
coal fired steam pours narrow gauge rails into overhead electrification to create vivid imaginings, mangle new destinies #######################################
along the Animas River, engine hauling 286,600 pounds/////a thousand flashes of memory
steel, water, and cargo toward water tower stops, fragments of homes, the smell of mountains
………………………………………………………………………………………………
synchronicity stabs stating you arrive with all the subtlety of a freight train
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
we cede these visages as imagery sung by loquacious tongues, in the shadowed corners – all the fears, debts, atrocities are piled up
Conductor calls the shots **************************************** there’s no escape from responsibility
I am the Engineer, complicit, culpable (to stand with the Fireman) and I can barely calm the dragon that scries the future {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{my wellspring of shame}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
smashing into whatever ate my past- familial bonds and human failings
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
(Head and Rear Brakemen screech, pull, will the stop) while mythologies reveal the hidden dangers of archetypal activism as we lose ourselves in over-identification, righteousness, or doubt (the passengers begin to shout)
Each moment of conjunction:::::::::::::reciprocity::::::::when my embodied self ameliorated the suffering of another or my own is a gift ::::::::::::::::::::this rare moment of communion
1878 Nomad car that bore four Presidents through the West/ intertwining insights /this is that famous train from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Old train of creativity, deeply held convictions, passions of the mind, a journey of desire along all these sharp mountain curves^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^emotive effusions of art, papered meanings to the place Utes call heaven but they call the million dollar highway $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
engine 486 curves in its track as cars fly by on 550 @@@@@@@ Visual striving, resolution + melodic companions, finds me lacrymose, overwhelmed by beauty
[][][][][][][][][][][][][]][][][][][][]]]][][[[[[[][][][][][][]]]][][[[[][][][][][][][][][]]]]][[[[][][][][][[[][][][[][][][][][[[]]]][][[][][][][[[[[[]
Twisted metal chunks recalling The Wild Bunch! Will it all end guns ablaze dying in San Vicento? Sundance is a crack shot but we’re outnumbered kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These offerings, gifts, and sacrifices pointing toward divine grace and awe, genuflections and contrition all lead to promises of an immortal soul – that slow train to transcendence at 14,000 feet the thin cold air soothing the mind’s whirl ”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””’
Maybe this time the super train of imagination never left the station, or I’m still riding on creativity laughing at apophenia as she zooms by, ghost train mirage, there never was a wreck, it was only in my mind ==========================================================================
The original poem can be found here: http://chromapoesy.com/2011/07/09/apophenia-and-creativity-a-kind-of-self-possession-2/
i like “super train of imagination”
Thanks Zongrik, I look forward to reading your offering.
you were surely riding the creativity train anna…loved this..and i’m not going to quote my favs…too many..
Thanks Claudia, I’m so glad you loved it; I can’t wait to read yours!
oy…yeah the creativity train has you all over it…smiles.love the delivery…very artsy…and some great touches throughout ….butch cassidy…i like that movie….lots of great stuff here…
Thanks, I was in a high speed rail rush to get it out before going out, now that I’m back I’m looking forward to the rounds! Oh, and thanks for artsy.
Well, this is so amazing, where the hell to start? I’m here in Colorado– is that where you are as well? I know those trains, those outlaws and outlaw hands– the rhythm of this write is fabulous and you take major liberties with the alphabet for sure. A fabulous and overwhelming poem. I’m at http://parolavivace.blogspot.com // xxxj
Thanks Jenne, I’m also in Colorado and this is a smash up of a poem I wrote a couple years ago and looking at the D&S Narrow Gauge RR trip we took in 2009. We went up to Silverton and then 4-wheeling around the San Juan Mountains. I was worried I didn’t pull it off so thank you very much for your kind compliment, I look forward to reading your poem.
Steam train calling through mountains breathing and climbing. Presence.
Thanks Hazel!
i walk the tracks from home
sometimes there is a steam train
they sound beautiful
i watched a video about the CERN collider.
i imagined myself split
accelerating and colliding
generating antimatter
held in stasis
until it hits a wall
fragmenting again
resolving
Great thoughts here; wonderful to have you visit. I’ll look for yours :).
There is something in this of the eternal romance of the outlaw, something of the seductive pull of the locomotive changing the world not in increments but landslides, and of you, the poet and artist, the carrier of freight, all colliding virtually, cargo spilling in a more glorious mess than ever could be consciously contrived, and nothing seems broken, just a lot of spill and roll. I enjoyed this a lot, lots of motion, lots of image, and lots of content as well…a journey of desire, a slow train to transcendance and a super train of the imagination all in one.
Thanks Joy, you sure know how to leave a comment that makes my day :). Looking forward to savoring yours!
Get a real sense of a journey and a place here – also interesting how a steam train excites the imagination more then the 10.00am Express to work
True, we rode in the 1878 Nomad car (which is the oldest car in service here in the US), taking a journey I’d taken many times before by car. The full name of the river is “Rio de las Animas Perdidas”, “River of the Lost Souls” and it is the last free-flowing river in Colorado (this is about to change). The D&SNGRR has appeared in dozens of westerns most recently ‘The Claim’ so it was easier to have my imagination run off with me. Thanks for visiting!
This really is a feast of a poem… love the visuals…the shifts of diction..the humanity…and this line in particular:
synchronicity stabs stating you arrive with all the subtlety of a freight train
Delicious..woo..
Thanks Becky, I wasn’t sure about the visuals but figured in a train-wreck rewrite I’d be forgiven if they didn’t work quite right :). The full name of the river is “Rio de las Animas Perdidas”, “River of the Lost Souls” and it is the last free-flowing river in Colorado (this is about to change). I wanted to give that sense of disorientation and outlaw possibility. I’ve added a photo of the river. I so appreciate your feedback on these experimental pieces.
A ride indeed… LOVE the ending.
Thank Laurie!
So many images of trains, so well put together into a “creative” whole. Well done, Anna.
I’ve ridden that train from Durango to Silverton. Or a least what’s a replica of the original.
It’s quite a ride along the river, glad you’ve been there too. Thank you for reading and commenting, Glynn.
This train of creativity carries one unique character on a journey that is always beginning and always travelling! Fascinating write!
Thanks Gemma, I look forward to reading your poem. I’ve got to a big day ahead but I’ll be making my rounds again this evening.
Felt of a lot of rapid movement in thought, that and the composition of this lent to the prompt quite well. ~ Rose
Thanks Rose!
hi anna – great visuals, makes for an interesting read, both to the eye and mind. Very creative. Great capture of the journey.
Thanks Arron, glad the visuals worked. I wasn’t sure but then I ran out of time to hem and haw so they stayed in :).
awesome, anna! your use of the symbols lined up like tracks or cars on the highway–or even dollar signs!–was brilliant, it really added to the impression of train travel, and my enjoyment of the poem. i just had to laugh at arriving with all the subtelty of a freight train! you normally use language that isn’t so common, so when you do use a common, familiar phrase like that, it jumps out and works.
thanks for luring this OUT of your head and onto the page for us to read. i truly loved it.
cb (fireblossom)
Thanks Fireblossom, I’m excited to read your poem. The engine shot was taken by my husband in Silverton. I’m so happy you loved it – sometimes I wish I left things in my head ;)!
PS–i meant to say i love the photograph of #486 very much, too!
I really like how it starts with the two parts of you colliding. Interesting and unique approach to the prompt 🙂
Thanks, I look forward to seeing where your imagination took you!
wow…you jumped the creativety train and rode it all the way home…bravo 🙂
Yeah, though jumping off an 18mph train shouldn’t be too difficult :). I once jumped out of a Jeep and that went badly so maybe I’m learning.
This took me many places and left me not knowing exactly what to say. I guess it’s like your train wreck where you find yourself running into another part of yourself. I found the entire thing intriguing, entertaining, puzzling, and both inside and outside of my experience. I’ve spent a good deal of my life in Colorado, but I don’t thing I’ve ridden that train…I had trains of other kinds in my life there though. I’ve run into myself in a world of different ways. I like fiddling around with type and fonts to make sense of things that don’t make sense otherwise. I think that makes me (and therefore you) an artist. I liked this, but there’s a lot here I only “sense” and don’t fully understand. Really good, though.
‘I’ve run into myself in a world of different ways.’ and ‘there’s a lot here I only “sense” and don’t fully understand.’ Me too Gay, me too. I wanted that sense of jumbled, tumbled, bumbled life. What does it mean? What do I understand? What’s happening here? All good questions to ask. Thank you very much for your insightful comment.
Loved the poem, loved the ride, ad understand train wrecks as well. I enjoyed your type art within the poem. Always a trip reading your poem Anna. I look forward every week. Your last stanza was my favorite.
Thank you for your kind words and it’s nice to know I’m not alone :).
Quite the train trip, ripe with references galore and of course the movie one is my favorite, I bet that was hard to guess huh?..haha
Ah, it’s been long years since I’ve seen it but it certainly made an impression. Thank you for the read!
wow… your collision exploded in creativity and I feel fortunate to have read this. Such a delight in artistry.
Thank you Patricia that’s very kind of you to say.
A collision image retained in the minds can be awesome. It matters most in coming up with an excellent verse!
Hank
Thank you Hank, I like the way you put that.
Anna, I loved the weaving of spheres, great central metaphor, and literal expression…really enjoyed the symbols…..despite some serious ‘stuff’ (always so eloquent as you know!) going on, there was a gentle humour shared too, which somehow elevated….hmm
Wonderful you saw the gentle humor, I try to maintain it no matter the situation. Thanks so much for the visit and comment VP!
Love the effect of repeated brackets, hexes and other marks. They really are scenes that are rushing by. &&&& as human shapes would be something I would never have thought about. We see tracks, mountain peaks, hear the conductor whistle or call (asterisks), screeching metal on tracks, feel the wind, the soundless scene (……) going by.
Images and ideas are coming from two trains at once, thus the feeling like they have collided, but they have not, it seems they both going at the same time or perhaps they are really one train looked at from different angles, such the feeling is different, I feel. If I’m going off track by myself, apologies! 🙂
Fun ride. I’m a bit overwhelmed by the many ideas though. 🙂 But very fun.
Ah, like a cubist poem. I think you can take this imagination/creativity/apophenia train(s) poem anyway you’d like and not be off track :). Happy you enjoyed the ride Ravenblack!
The extended metaphor is fantastic. What a ride! Visually racing along with the progression of thought. Well done!
Thanks Beth, and thanks again for moving to another poem it was extremely considerate. I do always prefer honesty.