April Twilights and Other Poems

<h3><SPAN name="GOING_HOME" id="GOING_HOME"></SPAN>GOING HOME<br/> <span class="subhd">(BURLINGTON ROUTE)</span></h3> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0"><span class="letra">H</span>ow smoothly the trains run beyond the Missouri;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Even in my sleep I know when I have crossed the river.<br/></span> <span class="i0">The wheels turn as if they were glad to go;<br/></span> <span class="i0">The sharp curves and windings left behind,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The roadway wide open,<br/></span> <span class="i0">(<i>The crooked straight</i><br/></span> <span class="i0"><i>And the rough places plain.</i>)<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">They run smoothly, they run softly, too.<br/></span> <span class="i0">There is not noise enough to trouble the lightest sleeper.<br/></span> <span class="i0">Nor jolting to wake the weary-hearted.<br/></span> <span class="i0">I open my window and let the air blow in,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The air of morning,<br/></span> <span class="i0">That smells of grass and earth&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Earth, the grain-giver.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">How smoothly the trains run beyond the Missouri;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Even in my sleep I know when I have crossed the river.<br/></span> <span class="i0">The wheels turn as if they were glad to go;<br/></span> <span class="i0">They run like running water,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Like Youth, running away ...<br/></span> <span class="i0">They spin bright along the bright rails,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Singing and humming,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Singing and humming.<br/></span> <span class="i0">They run remembering,<br/></span> <span class="i0">They run rejoicing,<br/></span> <span class="i0">As if they, too, were going home.<br/></span></div> </div></div> <hr class="full" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />