The Anxious Journey

Before I boarded,
I gorged myself on banana and pineapple,
Folded and unfolded my softest gloves,
Ran a hard comb through the sweat of my hair,
Kissed my mother on the forehead,
Kissed my son on the nose,
Kissed my wife on the neck,
Held myself in my arms,
Kissed the conductor on the mouth,
Thinking that a difference could be made,
And then I boarded the strange train
And the reassuring moan of the locomotive
Made me think of the Canada geese
I pelted with bread, the warm fact of them,
Made me for a moment forget the journey
I spent my life readying for, though I still,
As the train thundered off
As my fingers rapped gently on the darkening window
Of my final thought,
Saw the whole map fan out before me: inexorable, flat.