Another Country

by Jacquie Pearce and Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Blithe Spirit 28:3, August 2018, page 37. Also published in Last Train Home, Vancouver, British Columbia: Pondhawk Press, 2021, page 176. Originally written in November of 2017.

autumn night—

the train whistle

enters my dream Jacquie

first frost

sparkling the tracks Michael

ticket for one—

a few yellow leaves

left on the platform Jacquie

bare branches—

a child’s wave

from the dining car Michael

through the railroad crossing

a gust of wind Jacquie

graffiti on a freight train

from another country . . .

harvest moon Michael