writing a love poem without writing a love poem by Rachel Tanner

there used to be a train
i'd hear in the middle of the night
when i was young. it never
woke me up because i was
always already awake.
i'd close my eyes and picture
where the train was going. where the train
had already been. i took comfort
in knowing i was part of its journey
and i let that peace
hold onto me til morning.
Rachel Tanner is a queer, disabled writer from Alabama whose work has recently appeared in Tenderness Lit, Wine Cellar Press, and elsewhere. She has a monthly videogame writing column in Videodame and she tweets @rickit.