The Grey Train

Have you seen the Grey Train in the Metro?

The Grey Train,
Unannounced on the track,
As if out of the mist?

The Grey Train,
Petulantly wailing in tortured resistance as it slows down,
Headlights bright,
But with uncaring and soulless cars permanently silenced,
Silenced by the sign over the door,
"No Passengers"?

The Grey Train,
Reluctent in unsealing its taciturn maw,
Unwilling to reveal its Silent Sentinels?

Silent Sentinels,
Obsidian against their dingy, dismal, steel ferry,
Gold badges glinting against the silvery prisoners within,
Charcoal shotguns at the ready?

Still Sentinels,
Standing granite as another prisoner,
Shimmering and shuddering,
Is collected from the end of the platform?

Mute Sentinels,
Their task done,
Retreat into that somber embrace,
The leaden, voiceless lips of their ashen bearer?

The Grey Train,
Vanishing down the tunnel,
Back into its abyssal haze?

Have you seen the Grey Train in the Metro?

The Grey Train,
With shining metal carts coldly lining the sides within,
Prisoners shrouded in feeble light,
Light rebuked by opalescent windows,
Dead as an old man's eyes,
Blind with age?

-Pete