An Evening Train

    whistles past hacked-down fields of corn，

    heading towards a boy who whittles

    an effigy of himself. We go on sleeping

    through sirens and crimson strobes

    flashing on remains no one can identify

    till we line up at dawn to see who's

    missing. At the zoo this morning， a girl

    found half-devoured in a moat， two lions

    licking their chops， Little Rock， Arkansas

    the only proof left on her body to show

    how far she was from home， a tattered copy

    of The Odyssey later found in her purse.

    Did she love her life？ We warn our children

    not to lay their ears down on the tracks

    in wintertime， knowing how it's not

    always best to know what's coming our way.