The rail a spine, each vertebrae a station ~
people as pulses of the system, 
nervous and sympathetic — the lifeblood of a country.

Another leafless landscape
Another rippling river, swollen purple and brown 
Another farm of factories: silver emits white becomes blue
Another train of cargo and chemicals carrying the weight of industry ~ resources to be reimagined 

— the redundant beauty of the rural.

Steady in and steady out —
people sit in silence, snacking, reading, writing, working, scrolling -
rolling toward Year’s End,
the destination arrived and at once departed.

If the river’s ripples held still, they would reflect the dry backs of winter hands.