Annemarie Austin
Diva Station
Her fur trails behind her and
the little dog plays chase and pounce.
Otherwise the crowd blots her out.
As with Lenin at the Finland Station, they
threw their hats in the air at sight of her.
But what looks like a triumphant tour
she knows is really flight, putting down
the track behind in miles of tripwire.
On the train a woman passing told
a man, ‘You lie like a cheap rug’,
and Eva felt rebuked for her pretences -
the flowers, the jewels. In fact
vastation dogs her, a hopelessness that
sucks the colour out of flags. These
crowded scenes are stations of the cross
she visits on her knees. She must intercede
for all she knows she’ll come to,
small and forgotten on the sealed train.
the little dog plays chase and pounce.
Otherwise the crowd blots her out.
As with Lenin at the Finland Station, they
threw their hats in the air at sight of her.
But what looks like a triumphant tour
she knows is really flight, putting down
the track behind in miles of tripwire.
On the train a woman passing told
a man, ‘You lie like a cheap rug’,
and Eva felt rebuked for her pretences -
the flowers, the jewels. In fact
vastation dogs her, a hopelessness that
sucks the colour out of flags. These
crowded scenes are stations of the cross
she visits on her knees. She must intercede
for all she knows she’ll come to,
small and forgotten on the sealed train.
Page(s) 6
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