The Royal Train by Tony Ashenden

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I conceived this poem over 50 years ago. Dissatisfied with the initial draft I did no more but over the years one or two key lines continued to haunt me. Early in June 2024, I managed to fall out of a tree I was pruning. My injuries included my left broken arm, hand, and wrenched neck.  As a left-handed person that put a stop to many activities, including writing. Trolling through a listing of unfinished poetry the old draft came back in view. Unable to do much else without help, with one unsteady right-handed finger I began to rewrite it.

The Royal Train is now finished. There are two words in the poem you may not be familiar with, they are Djinn and Yama. Djinn is an Arabic plural noun meaning elemental earth-bound spirits hidden from sight. Yama is the Hindu God of death and justice, son of the Sun God Surya, who judges the souls of the dead and depending upon their deeds, assigns them to the realm of the Pitris, (their soul heritage) or to Naraka, (Hell) or to be reborn on Earth.

Humming gently, whistle muted                             

the Royal Train arrives,                                 

auto enabled                                                   

and expectant of deaths                                                             

it screeches driverless to halt                    

at Rebirth Platform number one.                             

Doors open.                                                                   

Into the darkened interior                          

you float                                                            

light as a feather, half asleep,                    

jostling to get a window seat;                   

dreaming, so you believe                                                            

the tangled web you often weave.                                         

You’ll not hear the whistle keening         

the train restart                                              

or know its full and wide within               

but you will hear, and feel                         

the pulsing coupled driving wheels         

relentlessly rhyming                                                                     

abba du by abba du by                           

                                                               du by du by abba du by♫                           

Cyclical sounds dispelling time                  

unfolding memories, child-like                  

motivating youthful desires.                                                     

Easily thoughts become creative              

manifesting a desirous world                     

pulsating independent forms,                   

life needy forms that gratify,                     

satiate, and has you wake                                                          

and expostulate                                              

to the rhyming wheels                                 

do what you will, do what you will 

Is this dying you ask of me                          

travelling free able to see,                          

testifying                                                           

life doesn’t end?                                                                            

To begin it’s all picture postcard               

Dolby Sound and Technicolour                 

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.                

You, righteously urging the Self                

undo, make up, inwardly heal.                                                 

Elemental forces enter in                            

purpose forms and whispers Djinn.        

Unreasoned giving thoughts arise,          

happiness spreads like blood within.      

Onward and-upward you spiral….                                                           

the ego cries unwise!                                   

Fear of God enters in:                                   

knowledge dissipates.                                  

Hinder me not, hinder me not               

Hinder me not, hinder me not ♫                              

                               Hallelujah, God is Great!                                                             

Here you reign between the points         

of destination and departure                    

coerced to play the part of king                

to this extension of your mind:                 

pieces and pawns, two of a kind                                                              

aboard the Summerland express,            

resolved to undo, clean the slate,            

begin anew:                                                     

entrained upon the ever long                    

                                               never-ending                                                   

                                                            pointed track.                                                  

                                                                               Yama the Jailer God.                                                                                     

Where will it end                                            

you ask yourself?                                           

No sooner said                                                

the melody of chiming wheels                  

cease their singing.                                                                                                      

Doors slide back,                                            

the Station Master speaks                          

Rebirth platform number two!”                                                             

A dream of people disembark.                 

No such place but it feels like home       

but why you ask, and where am I?          

Here unknown smiley people sing           

and have you fear the child within.                                        

No walls here and no pearly gate.           

The old and young in ragged trews         

torn uniforms and winding sheets           

or dressed like you, in Sunday best         

congregate and await their fate.                                                              

Loved ones you believed were dead       

appear glowing with health, saying         

do what you will, you’re free, enjoy!      

Youthfully love, rest from the world       

time-out, reinvent and explore.                                               

Your thoughts cease to justify need,       

love bearing energies bond with                             

outpourings of the giving self.                   

Harmony prevails,                                          

the Way becomes known.

                               Hallelujah, God is Great!                                                            

Seeds of union germinate,                          

love unfettered starts to grow,                  

your mind enjoins to many lives.             

Reason no longer governs form                

upward as mustard seed you flow.                                         

All and everything                                          

in a spiral flow.                                                

Doing better                                                     

more of what was done before.               

The Way becomes your inner state         

Divine reason commands the soul.                                         

Karmically you accept your fate.                              

How can I suggest you differ?                    

Little do you know, its checkmate            

another game must now begin.                               

                               Hallelujah, God is Great!                                                             

And then behold the train appears         

gleaming blue royal gold and red.            

And there you are                                          

on platform three                                           

crowned royally,                                             

purposed yet again to steal                        

the apple from the knowledge tree.                                       

Driverless it stops with open doors         

and into the lighted carriage                      

you float                                                            

light as a feather, soul elite,                       

jostling to get a window seat.                   

Knowing how you now believe                                                 

why the tangled web deceives.                                                

You’ll not hear the whistle keening         

the train begin,                                               

but you will know                                          

why its wide within.                                      

Omnipresent is your soul                            

purposed to achieve its goal.                                                    

As expected you can hear                           

the pulsing coupled driving wheels                                        

relentlessly rhyming.                                    

Clock ticking cyclical sounds                      

birthing memories                                         

motivating earthly thriving.                                                       

Abba du by abba du by♫                       

                                ♫ du by du by abba du by♫                      

Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve                  

Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve                  

Abba du by abba du by♫                       

                               ♫ du by du by abba du by♫                                                      

The trains’ jingling rhyme                           

Is birthing the earthly mind.                      

Conscience conflicts with                            

needy newborn voices, that                      

proclaim their immortality.

                .             

And in their chatter promise dies                                            

has you fear the child within                     

will depart                                                        

and hollow out your heart.                        

Another self is looking on:                          

Singular and base.                                         

You query why it doesn’t speak                

wrapped up, curled in sleep.                                                     

Elemental forces enter in, and                  

your single purposed soul divides            

further from the source you ride.            

Every now and then                                      

the whistle blows,                                         

wheels hiss and grind.                                  

Coaches shudder.                                          

Train doors open to a void.                         

The station master’s voice                          

is indistinct.                                                      

You cannot tell when or where.                

Bemused, benumbed, and apathetic,    

coerced to play the Chess of Life.                                            

Be you Bishop, or be you Rook                 

be you Knight or be you Queen.                                              

Be you foolish, or be you wise,                 

believe or not                                                  

you will survive.                                                             

The Royal Train will call again.                                                  

Here you reign between the points        

of destination and departure.                   

Once a prince of past endeavour,            

bodies forming, whispering Djinn,           

are serving you, the absent king.                                          

Now conscious of the daylight                  

weaving anew the tangled web.                              

Predestined to rhyme in miles forecast 

ever purposed                                                 

to the pointed track                                      

the never-ending pointed track.                              

Yuma the Jailer God.                                     

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