No One Else Is Coming

I.

My Life

Is a Train Station

Where I wait

and wait.

Sitting on the dull

gray concrete Bench

Just underneath

The Big Round Clock

... tick tock ...

I button up my pea coat

It was cold.

Love

Sat next to me

He said He was waiting too

May He sit a while?

I nodded

Red licorice? I offered.

He took one and chewed.

He waited with me,

For my Train,

No rush, He reassured.

He told me pretty stories

And we laughed

and we laughed

and ate candy corn.

I'll board your train

With You, He promised.

But not this one,

The next one, He said,

Or the next.

We waited.

I waited

and waited.

For a long time.

Impatience and frustration

Became of me.

No, I had to go

I left His Bench

Behind

And my bag of chocolate coins.

I boarded the Train

Heading West.

II.

I picked a seat

Next to the Window

The breeze, that earthy smell;

Like a tall glass of water

On a perfectly humid day.

The world cruised by

At a steady 90 miles per hour.

Faith

Sat next to me

He took my hand in His

And made promises

of Marvelous Tomorrows;

Honeysuckle, butterflies, dew drops

On purple maple leaves.

All out there

All out West.

But the Sun

Woke up in the East

All my senses -- as if like magnet

Drawn to its

Overpowering Lust.

I hopped off

My Westbound Train.

III.

On platform 12

He was waiting. Again.

Love, again.

You'd be back, He foresaw.

The Eastern Train is coming

Sit with Me.

Gummy Bears? He offered.

I took one and chewed.

We boarded the Train

Heading East.

The clouds were painted

In 16-tone colors;

Horses neighed and

Panthers loped.

It was like Art;

Beautiful.

Moons passed, hearts beat.

I was ready to alight

He wasn't.

Not yet, He said,

Soon.

Soon.

But Soon never came

I jumped,

I tucked, I rolled;

Dusted off my bruised flesh

And my broken spirit.

Head held high

On platform 9

I waited

Again

And licked my wounds.

IV.

A train wreck

Nearby;

A collision

With God's Secret.

Hope

Emerged with tired eyes;

Wounded and damaged

But His Spirit flickered.

Hope

Sat next to me

Bloodied hands and all.

Twinkies? I offered.

No thanks, He said,

Then He changed His mind.

He took one and chewed.

He shook

From the crash He survived.

No more Trains, He vowed,

Just walking.

Very lonely though, I supplied.

Lonely is okay, He argued,

When life almost left you be...

Lonely is nothing.

We ate marshmallows

As the sun dipped.

He repaired His brazen self

Each day at a time

But the trains have stopped

Coming,

No more hoots, no more chugs.

He stood up, He shifted,

Wiping His hands on His jeans.

Coming? He asked.

I sat there rooted.

Coming? He echoed.

I sat still

On my Bench

Beneath the Big Round Clock

That same one

... tick tock...

V.

Arms akimbo

I stared down the rails

Further down

And down

As far as this naked eye

Can see.

The Sky blushed

A bashful orange hue;

I trod down the beaten

Iron Path;

No one else was coming.

No one else is coming.

Faith, Love,

Gone.

Just got Hope.

That's all.