Tag: free verse poems

I read he was inspired

By the

Train.

There was something

About the rhythm

And the rattle

Of wheels

On the tracks.

Solitude and relative

Quiet, often

Foster

Creativity.

Sometimes, when I

Ride, in the

White noise,

I can almost hear

Notes and melodies,

Like a distant

Radio.

Somehow, for him

It clicked,

Like a wheel on

A track,

Rhythms and sounds,

Horns that almost

Imitate the noise

And clamor

Of a train in

Motion

But

Melodically.

An emotive

Clarinet

Cries and

Laughs, along

With

Thrilling swells,

Syncopation,

Exciting crescendoes and

Building rhythm,

Interrupted by

Sweet,

Lyrical, romantic

Melody.

Once, one of these

Crescendoes

Woke me

From a dream in

Which I was telling this

Story

Of the train and

Gerschwin.

Thank you,

Mr. Gerschwin

for your

“Rhapsody in

Blue.”

© 2021 Susan Joy Clark

This poem was written as part of dVerse’s Blue Tuesday challenge. (I think I am getting addicted to challenges.)

A little end note: I wrote a similar poem, free verse, about Gerschwin and the train for a college creative writing class years ago. This is not that original poem. With computer failures and changing devices over the years, I’ve lost some of my archives. The dream really happened, a lot more recently than my first poem on this theme. I had put together a classical playlist for insomnia, but this piece was a little too exciting for my insomnia!