II: Rails

i yearn for motion’s pull and thrust

the thunder pulse of engine churn

the pensive burn of ember coals

i coax the sentry furnace west

i press the pure and tempered coke

the poker tamps the pyre nest

the piled flame that prods the spokes

i smoke through stops and tile plains

i’m riding tracks to mountaintops

from ground to tip that cracks the sky

the circles arc around the trails

i’m bound to rails that skirt my heart

• July 2025

Submission History

Date	Publication	Status
July 02, 2025	January House Literary Journal	Rejected
July 02, 2025	Mangrove Review	Pending
July 03, 2025	Cypress Review	Pending