A Day At Union Station - Poem by Tiel Aisha Ansari

Departure
At last, I'm leaving the familiar roof!
I'm undeterred by rain and wind.
This presentation should be quite a feather
in my cap. Eager, I clutch my ticket.
I'm going places. Not letting any grass
grow, not under these clever feet!

Pigeons
We admire one another's tiny coral feet.
Coooooo, coooooo under the roof.
Picking spilled popcorn out of the grass,
we read the news written on the wind...
Freezing tonight? warmth, that's the ticket.
We'll huddle in the rafters and fluff our feathers.

Arrival
My bags in my hands, as light as feathers.
Oh my aching back, tired feet...
I've grown to hate the sight of a ticket.
Just let me get back under my own roof.
I'm done with blowing about like wind--
time to stay home and mow my own grass.

Porter
Excuse me sir, please don't walk on the grass.
I wish they cared, but they don't give a feather.
I envy travellers, free as the wind.
They go where fancy takes them, rambling feet
The world to be their home, the sky their roof!
Oh, how I wish I could afford a ticket.

Smoke
You breathe me out, wave me away with your ticket
I fall from the train stack to blacken the grass.
They scraped years of me from the bright copper roof.
I spread through the air like grey-white feathers.
Clever nets of me coil at your heedless feet--
but oh, I'm helpless prey for a gust of wind.

Agent
Brrr. It's cold at this desk when the wind
blows-- Thank you; here's your ticket.
I had a little heater for my feet
but I was careless with the smell of burning grass
you know? Sorry, my head's full of feathers.
Boring job, but it pays for my roof.

Discards
Unused tickets moulder in the grass.
Shed feathers scatter before the wind.
Echoes of hurried feet crowd the roof.

Tiel Aisha Ansari, Dec 14 2005