The first sign
is usually a jolt,
then the Cascade,
caught between Puget Sound
and namesake mountain range,
held in a twisted breath
above the morning rush
and misty chaos of Interstate 5.
Report to dispatch:
We are on the ground
at Point Defiance Bypass
coaches and bistro car
chunks of concrete
a locomotive
tossed down both sides
of the overpass.
All the dead found
in the rail cars
that went into the woods.
READ MORE
Multiple Deaths in Amtrak Train Derailment in Washington [The New York Times]
Hear the Train Conductor’s Radio Call [CNN]
The Amtrak Tragedy Has Roots in the Swamp [The Nation]
Noreen Ellis is a poet and a communication professional with more than 25 years of experience in the transportation industry. Her poems have been published in Hanging Loose Press, Cease, Cows and the Troubadour International 2016 25 for 20 Poetry Prize.
Photo by Todd Diemer.
