The Temple Station

-The Temple Station-
by Keaton Foster



Bending
Breaking
That metal spine
Twisted are the lines
Across flat land
Up burdensome hills
Freefalling down
The opposing side
The engineer rules true
His hands are on the pulse
Of everything plausible
The load he carries
The weight he marries
Precise and calculated
Just enough power
A little more steam
Down the tracks
He dares to go
Out past town
Way beyond home
To another time
Within this reality
There the world waits
A world to be lived
An authenticity
To be embraced
The train is waiting
At the temple station
Steam and sound
Bellows from below
People without faces
Enter and exit
None are known to me
Or to each other
They whisper salutations
As they pass each other by
An attempt at making a connection
Where clearly there is none
One man dressed in blue
Screams a final all aboard
Like a fool I step inside
Taking an assigned seat
In no time
The man dressed in blue
Questions my right to ride
Ticket please
My reply
I have none
I saw the others
Those already confirmed
Climbing inside and I thought
If them, then why not me
Without raising his head
And revealing his face
The man in blue proclaims
You must have a ticket to ride
A fair paid in the fullest
No apology offered
Or exception considered
You must exit this train
And wait at the temple station
You must remain there
For as long as it takes
For you to have the sum required
Only if and when you buy a ticket
Can you be allowed to ride
Beyond this place and time
Unsettling
His tone and demeanor
I do as he says
Never considering an alternative
Returning to the platform
I’m sure that I will always remain
The train leaves the temple station
Heading to a place
That I cannot be allowed to go
Not because I don’t have the money
But rather because the price
That is required to buy a ticket
I fear is just too high…



The Temple Station
Written by Keaton Foster Copyright © 2014.