Ticket

Ticket

A Poem by jacob erin-cilberto

Ticket

 

 

i saw the train

your face in the window

the goodbye in your eye

 

at the crossing

idling heart

wanting to cross the tracks

 

of closure.

 

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

7/7/19

© 2019 jacob erin-cilberto


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Reviews

hard hitting. i guess it was a one-way ticket. not an easy trip but that juncture must be crossed in order to move on. i wonder how many movies have this very scene ... :)

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

i have seen several movies...and have lived it as well...thank you, Pete,
j.
love anything with trains etc and everyday stuff, love this metaphor.

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

thank you for your words, Julie,
j.
Wow . . . hope I don't stall on the tracks! Must have been Amtrak, right? Sure wasn't the Chattanooga Chew Chew! Another clever metaphor my friend.
T.

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

it was actually before Amtrack..it was the Illinois Central going up North...
thank you, Tom,.. read more
Man...this is a hard one. Beautiful in its round swell of emotion in such a short space and and heartbreaking in its vertical and horizontal span. Good s**t Jacob...

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

thank you for your kind review, Crowley.
j.
So many departures like this over the years...I think though that diesel engines took all the romance out of those scenes...much more atmospheric with steam trains...the engine huffing and puffing and blowing off clouds of steam like a dormant dragon.
The hero in a trench coat and slouch hat...the girl in a lovely dress...head resting against the window...a solitary tear running down her cheek.
My grandfather was a railroad man and I'm old enough and was lucky enough to travel by steam train and actually go with him to the roundhouse...now long since gone.

So much out of so few words.
A good write, j.

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

thank you for sharing that about your grandfather and your kind review, Ted,
j.
"Idling"...
Like cars, but trains...
Clever...
Do the tracks have "do not cross" warning barriers coming down...?
That always seems to be what keeps me from that sweet closure of soul...
Simple yet...
Not at all a simple thought...

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

thank you for your words, Silente,
j.
apennylate

5 Years Ago

No, thank you for being a lighthouse of work...
Well... I mean, alright ill take your thank y.. read more
dear Jacob... I adore the old trains... where romance
was in the air... thinking of the Movie North by Northwest with Cary Grant...
and in the end Mount Rushmore. They don''t make movies like that any more...
nor does it happen often in real life. However, when we hear the words, "All Aboard"!!!"
we will jump at the chance to cross the tracks and take a chance. truly, Pat

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

thank you for your words, Pat...and yes, they do not make movies like that...Alfred was one of the g.. read more
Patricia Wedel

5 Years Ago

It all seems so real to me... when a movie has great actors and directors... truly, Pat
So visual, felt that sinking feeling knowing there isn't anything you can do except watch that train pull out of the station and then deal with the emotional wreckage afterwards. You packed a great deal into these very short lines Jacob and did so brilliantly. I've actually been part of this once, but I was the girl on the train and knew I wouldn't be going back. It was the end of the line.

Chris

Posted 5 Years Ago


Chris Shaw

5 Years Ago

Yep, the end of the line and I love that song and that video with the rocking chair and guitar. Shee.. read more
jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

I play his greatest hits pretty often...that voice unbelievable...silky...love "Leah"--
i kno.. read more
Chris Shaw

5 Years Ago

They were a dream ticket. You couldn't beat that line up anywhere :))
Short journey here Jacob. And like a train pulling away from the platform one is powerless to stop it, change it even when the wish to has crept in. Often when someone has decided that ticket is only one way. Another creative allegory that steeps the reader in images and emotions with a pithy offering.

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

thank you for your kind review, John,
j.
thanks for being the great inspiration to the rest of us brother...

Posted 5 Years Ago


jacob erin-cilberto

5 Years Ago

i really appreciate that, dana...
you know your writing is always an inspiration for me. I h.. read more

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Added on July 8, 2019
Last Updated on July 8, 2019

Author

jacob erin-cilberto
jacob erin-cilberto

Carbondale, IL



About
Originally from Bronx, NY, I live in Carbondale, Illinois...teach English at a community college and have been writing and publishing poetry since 1970. I am here to read for inspiration from other po.. more..

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