for RA
Vacantly, insipidly, I gaze
past daffodil and rye into a sky
jigsawed in cloud o'er rippling tepid haze -
when louder from the breeze there grows a sigh
Of distant speed - I know that sound - my spine
twists with unrest, as racing she appears,
The glint from west along electric line -
And lo another! from the east he nears.
Before I know, from growl to roar and hiss
To ard'rous clatter of their fateful meeting
Thrust into, 'gainst, and past, I see them kiss,
Once done, receding, fading, my heart beating.
Alone once more, blown hanging dust above,
Perhaps I dreamed that fast trains cannot love.