The Emptys Cuming Back

have you ever sat by the railroad track
and watched the emptys cuming back?
lumbering along with a groan and a
whine--
smoke strung out in a long gray line
belched from the panting injun's stack
--just emptys cuming back.

i have--and to me the emptys seem
like dreams i sometimes dream--
of a girl--or munney--or maybe fame--
my dreams have all returned the same,
swinging along the homebound track
--just emptys cuming back.

by Angelo De Ponciano