twelve years old
alone in a rambling cowtown
deposited at the Fort Worth
Beaux-Arts style
railroad terminal
at sizzling dawn
after missing train connection
from traveling all night
en route from Colorado
to home in Shreveport
facing a twelve hour wait
for next scheduled departure
with wanderlust impulses
aroused inside myself
bravely exiting
the fading depot
to explore strange sidewalks
while carrying a small suitcase
& dripping perspiration
as nostrils smell putrid air—
the scent of cattle burning
out of nearby stockyards
surprisingly unafraid
lost in a deep dream state
realizing even in dreams
Texas is The Twilight Zone
but at last free of everyone
just me in a rundown downtown
gazing in semi-trance
plotting permanent escape
praying the evening train
will never come
tranquilly filled with pubescent peace
feeling like a man in a boy’s body
Davidson Garrett is a poet and actor living in New York City. He is the author of two poetry collections, King Lear of the Taxi, published by Advent Purple Press, and Arias of a Rhapsodic Spirit, published by Kelsay Books. His latest chapbook, Cabaletta: Poems of a New York City Taxi Driver, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2022.