After you board the train, you sit & wait,

to begin your first real journey alone.

You read to avoid the window’s awkwardness,

knowing he’s anxious to catch your eye,

loitering out in never ending rain,

to wave, a bit shy, another final good-bye;

you are afraid of having to wave too soon.

And for a moment you think it’s the train

next to you has begun, but it is yours,

and your face, pressed to the window pane,

is distorted & numbed by the icy glass,

pinning your eyes upon your father,

as he cranes to defy your disappearing train.

Both of you waving, eternally, to each other.

–Greg Delanty