Progress

I watched a train hit a butterfly.

Jetlagged and numb,

my mind sagging and dumb –

founded I found this creature,

on a gray day captivating –

airy and light

gainst the dark and hard steel,

I stole a moment to feel.

Sounds blurred and muted,

I followed this dance in a peaceful soft trance,

like being lead on a ballroom floor,

your feet barely touching,

your body succumbing

to this sway and that sway,

trusting the way your partner will take.

Inspired by this random encounter

and just as a smile spread cross my face,

a train SLICED through this space,

barreling bold like the cold hearted progress it drove.

Still on the platform, scanning the tracks,

like a lover whose eyes got a glimpse of raw passion,

I soon came to see

that all I had seen had now passed.

What a metaphor for life!

The beauty, the strife –

what a parallel to our tear

through this world we all share,

what a potent piece of this paradise lost,

so perfectly placed as I smiled once more —

and stepped on the train.