Once Upon a Winter Evening

the rumbling of tracks across the lake

pierced the silence

of a rainy dark evening,

the blaring of the horn

ushered in another train and 

a sheet of hope to comfort my tired heart.

between the lull and
the clanking of the couplings,

i was lost in some distant thought,

that moonless december sky! 

everything seemed so familiar
with another beautiful evening -

the chill, the rumbling of tracks,
and, the roar of the horn;

but for the presence
of the gleaming moon 

that shone so brightly and ruled the night, 

and, the sight of a spirited me in the train

as passionately, it chugged along.

was it not december!

i stood at the door,

braving the chill, and the dew in the air

as the train gathered speed

and my heart beats, their pace.

the sip off the earthen cup
brought warmth to my lips

the smile on the wrinkled face
of tea-seller girl

rubbed off on mine

as i witnessed the rattling of the stones,

the train tore through the swaying paddy fields

that joined me in basking in the moonlit sky!

hours passed by,

as the train roared through woods,

and bent over ravines, farms and fields, 

clanking on merging and parting tracks,
or galloping across perilous old bridges. 

i stood as a frame, next to the door

with face and palms - turned numb in the chill

and eyes that froze into a long weary gaze, 
a line of warmth rolled down my cheeks

as I longed to be home with my moon!

i can't say if it was some distant memory

several winters back,

or, if i was soaked in yet another sparkling dream.

i could smell the soot

and even saw the engine
belch out clouds of smoke,

but in the deep silence of the night,
disturbed only by the ticking of the clock,
and an occasional creaking of the door
my brain was too tired to make out

if it came from across the lake

or, from the train that ferried me 
to a different world!

© sashikant mohanty