still passenger

the still passenger sits on a train, on the window seat, in the middle of a long car. these are the days when there were drive-in movie theaters dotted across the landscape. at dusk, the images on the screen appear off in the distance. the images presented here are those which are glimpsed, the ones that still her thoughts. the train rolls along. the landscape seems to move, but doesn't. the still passenger sits alone with her snapshots in her mind. she's filling in the spaces.

September 10, 2014

arthur said that when he looked up from his chin in black mud
he saw that woman's image on the train. it glistened but not
like a reflection. it seemed to emanate from within the train.

he said that he had seen her before. he could see inside the train
now. she was typing something. part of a story. he remembered that
she had thin ankles.