Sleeping Train by Nada Adel Sobhi - Poem

Darkness surrounds,

Worry abounds,

No snow,

But bone-chilling cold

Lurks in the vicinity

Hoodie-covered,

Sweater-hidden

Men and women

On a sleeping train

But who is truly sleeping?

The train stops,

Some get up and wonder

"Are we there yet?"

"It's too early to stop,

Still 8 hours to go!"

Several trains pass us by.

Hands shake,

Shoulders shiver.

The cold seeps in,

Threatening to break our sleep,

Or dormant strength.

Sounds from the next door cabin

Spell noise

For the already restless and wandering mind.

Eyes once too sleepy,

Now awake,

Searching,

Studying,

Calculating,

Jumping from side to side

Looking for answers.

The heater seems to have died,

Or the cold has won the fight,

A fight the sleepers are unaware of.

The night grows darker

And we are standing still.

Where? I know not.

My mind won't dim tonight,

Not at least until we're moving again.

Then I'll begin my own battle

With the cold,

Under a hoodie and a blanket

That are no match

For the cold seeping into my bones.

Written 26 January 2016

At 1:41 am

On a train from Cairo to Luxor

train-at-night (via greenlanternpress.wordpress.com)