One more beat

A little train poetry for you today. Just one more beat.

1.11 pm,
Track 10,
carriage 2,
seat 12,
window.
All aboard!

Essentials pulled out of my luggage –
water bottle,
books,
a drawstring bag filled with magic.
Taiko drums in my ears.

My body greets the familiar rocking,
the beat of the tracks.
Trees are rushing by.
I am in motion.

As I open the magic bag
my fingers tingle,
giddy from anticipation.
I can weave at last.
A six hour train ride
captured in a sweet band
in the colours of fruit drops,
the kind your granny would keep
in a chrystal bowl
for special occasions only.

I tie a string around my waist,
band lock holding the band in place.
A whiff of juniper floats by.
Coat hook on the seat in front of me
secures the warp in the other end.

My loom is simple –
two hand carved sticks,
cherry I think,
control the shed.
A third stick, maple perhaps,
dressed in linen heddles
spread across the knife tracks
like a ruffled skirt.

Lean back to tense and 
plop the shed open,
forward to slack
and switch.

If I listen I hear the song of the weave.
A frrt to open the shed
and welcome the pink butterflied weft,
a sound reminding me of
the first butterfly of spring,
fluttering its wings
to welcome the sun.
Tkk tkk
as the shed sticks keep track of the beat
in synch with the taiko drums.

I lift the heddle stick
and pull the weft through.
Tighten the selvedge,
and tug
until I feel the warp threads
in place,
side by side,
covering the weft
with fruit drop stripes.

Leaning backwards
I make the beat.
Another row added to the fell
another beat toward a band.

I keep the weaving dance
as the weave sings its weaving song,
trees moving south
as I go north 
to snow covered ground.
I beat the weft to the
beat of the drums,
the beat of the train.
The beat of my heart.

The motion of the train in my body,
my body as the loom
moving with the breath of the weave,
the up and down of the shed.
I don't know
where the motion begins
or ends.
A dance,
a song,
a journey 
and a beat.
Just one more beat.
One more beat.

7.27 pm
track 3.
I exit carriage 2
in a new town,
the echo of the beat
still rocking my body.
Drawstring bag closed,
ready to add some more magic
to the ride back home.

Happy spinning!

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