Eternal blue above

Pillow white below

Mountains of cotton stretch the limits of sight.

All is quiet, serene:  breathtaking.

 

          The softness rises and falls, kissing the window.

          Glimpses of bliss entice then sigh, “Goodbye”

          All is one now

          Shrouded in haze, unreal.

 

A sudden patch of gray breaks the reverie

And is gone.

Below cries haltingly into view, spotted coffin of pale

Broken by lines of dead,

Bare trees, empty roads

Snowy despair as far as the eye can see.

 

          The death-scape covers the ground

          The serenity has rushed away in tears.

          Sudden movement is not life

          But a long, feelingless line of brown

          Lumbering across endless tracks in the barren.

 

Miles move slowly below from above

But the desolation continues everywhere

From the dark shoreline to the docks

Stark with their emptiness.

 

          The city rises stark against the grey

          Nearing, nearing, the bleak rushes by faster.

          The happy blue fades to tearful memory.

          Tray tables up.

          Welcome back.

 

                                                     January 8, 2020

                                                     Rachael Booth

                                                     On the way to Cleveland