modern poetry, written in Cluj-Napoca,Bucharest,Hamburg,Goettingen; 9/1987-3/1990. |
Every Day the Trains Arrive and Depart Unpublished work (c) 1990, Lisa Page Weil All rights reserved. Every day I watch the trains arrive and depart. I only live here for a part of the year. Lived there, Where? Did what? Publish here with Permis de Stat. As Christmas approaches once again, I find myself thinking of you. The Minister of Education approved my application for graduate study, And I learned Romanian before continuing academic work. The train left Bucharest a few minutes ago, And I’m traveling back to Germany. Last year, I studied German. To the Piat,a Libertat,i and back, twice. Centrul social; Allowance for food in lei. I expect that I’ll be kept busy with my early schedule; (6 hours–8 a.m. to 2 p.m). Then afternoons with my second language. I now live in Germany and Romania, Where I study language and literature, And I expect to remain overseas For a few more years. I’ll be in Bucharest late in the summer. I’m in Germany for most of the year. I have to speak with a professor there. When I heard of my acceptance in Germany, I moved to town and prepared to enroll. Inventing an imaginary setting for a fiction; Only a few referential details,. And some bills from somewhere. The University had sent me an earlier acceptance letter, Which I received in Bucharest. I had already traveled to Germany. By the time the train was at the Budapest train station, It was constant; A stop for an hour in Budapest; And I disembarked to stretch my legs and to see Whether I could find a large bag of Hungarian bubble gum balls. The Hungarians sell pounds of it for a small amount. 165 Forints for a half Kilogram. The train is scheduled to arrive in Bucharest by afternoon. Distance and circumstance– Eastern Europe-- A sustained academic and private life. I arrived in the –Evening, For another day of language class. I decided to continue traveling; Return to Bucharest in September. A few more weeks and I’ll be away from Western contact in Bucharest. I don’t know whether I will return next year, Or whether I will remain. I bought you some books Which are traveling by boat; Maybe they will arrive by May. After three weeks in Bucharest; where I enjoyed the cold, Watched the Dimbrovit,a freeze and thaw, Visited old friends, And completed my plan of study; Most of my company has been my work, studies, books, and family. By tomorrow afternoon, I’ll return to Bucharest for two or three weeks. |