Nut Trees

Nut Trees

Unpublished work (c) 1989, Lisa Page Weil
All rights reserved.



Nut trees bloom outside, walnuts;
And the Carpathian mountains remain green and lush.
Temperatures stay tepid-
Cool because of the altitude.
The student dormitories, called Camins
Stand along the side of a hill overlooking the town and the river Somes.
Town center:
St. Michael's Hungarian Church and the statue of King Matthias Corvinus.
Cluj is quiet, small.
You can hear church organs and church bells in the mornings;
Sometimes a rooster crowing.

It took two full days of travel
To arrive.
A night and the morning until Otopeni.
Then hours of stifling closeness.
Finally customs;
Agents open every bag, train or plane

By the time all of the passengers are processed,
The city has darkened. Evening.
Carry the baggage to the door and wait.

The Gara de Nord, the train station in Bucharest,
Stands at what is now the third Metro station from my residence.
I had to find a way to get to Cluj.
In Cluj, I knew a professor would meet me.
I also knew that I'd be housed.
I watched the train placards;
Another day without sleep.
I bought a ticket without understanding anyone
And half slept with my baggage.
I drifted off as the train began to move.

Two and a half hours of flatland outside of Bucharest;
Then the train begins to climb through the foothills, then on into the mountains.
The air cools.
On this route, passengers see nothing of the mountains until early in the morning.
Train lights stay on.
Seats are straight-backed.
Armrests mark the small spaces.
And people get off and on all night.

Morning and fog.
Fog fills the valleys and rises in wisps of mist
Among trees, often poplars, and small villages.
Clusters of houses,
Farmland,
The mountains ring a rolling plateau.