Tunnel through the Night

A gentle hum and sway

Accompanies the dreamers’ way

On tracks that lead us on from dusk to dawn.

The passing scenes outside are drawn

With shades of black and bluish gray

And points of light that blur before they’re gone.

The dreams and stories spun

Inside the gliding cars can run

Beside the sliding pictures in the glass.

Although the realms of thought surpass

Reality beneath the sun,

There’s magic in each darkened blade of grass

That sparkles in my sight

And shapes the lives that tunnel through the night.

When I visited my family over Thanksgiving, I took the train from Illinois to Pennsylvania. It was quite a long journey, and one leg of the trip (Chicago to Pittsburgh) happened overnight - we departed in the evening and arrived early in the morning. This poem is inspired by that part of the journey, as the train quietly glided through the darkness.