I was derailed that day, steel
wheels spinning sparks until
they tipped and ran to nowhere
in the air. Trains are funny that 
way. So secure, but for a rail, 
and moving so fast they don’t 
even know they’re airborne 
until they hit the ground. 
It was only a spike, a missing 
connection, a missed wish and
a fear and off I went, unconsenting,
in the dark. 

There should be a warning, some 
kind of system that would tell me 
ahead of time, but what should be
is merely whistling ahead, someone’s
daydream, a Turing computer with-
out all the parts. 

I was there. Now I’m here. I owned 
my own body, spoke my own 
words and then, as one spark lit
a bit of grass, I was all outside 
myself, watching. Thank God
for people who see me, who find 
me floating there, find my hand,
and pull. I am dependent at times,
but otherwise, I am a train.