POEM: The Couple on the Train

I am traveling by train.

I am bound to arrive at my destination in two hours.

I fall asleep for what feels like a moment,

But then some passenger movements on the aisle wake me.

I open my eyes.

The couch in front of me was empty when I fell asleep,

And now there is a sleeping young couple occupying it.

They look to be in their thirties,

And they are married.

I notice the golden rings on their left hands.

The woman rests her head on the man’s shoulder,

And the man hugs her.

Both are wearing jeans and comfortable sweaters.

I can’t help but notice the loving and protective tenderness in their embrace.

Passionate love.

They love each other so much, crosses my mind.

I love doing people-watching.

I learn a lot about human nature when I take the time to observe it.

Discretely so,

Without the subjects ever noticing that I am watching them.

This couple can’t see me watching while they are asleep,

But I am still careful to be a discreet observant,

As if I’m afraid to disturb their moment of rest.

I imagine their story.

I give them names in my head,

Elaine and Victor.

They traveled over the weekend,

And now they return to Toronto.

They went to a friend’s wedding.

Their own wedding was last year,

And all their friends were there for them,

Celebrating their happy union.

Most of their friends are now reaching this milestone in their lives – couples committing to each other.

Then having children and raising them.

Then reaching middle age and sending the children off to school.

Then growing old together.

Then retiring and traveling the world.

But all of this is in the future for them,

For this sweet couple that I happen to share a train ride with today.

They remind me of another young couple.

I never met them,

But I know about them from a photograph that was taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson in Romania in 1975.

It was a mysterious young couple on the train,

Sleeping in a tender embrace on the train couch.

The young woman was expecting a baby, who should be in his forties now.

Nobody knew who the couple was,

Yet their mystery is probably what made them so notorious

Among the art lovers around the world.

Artists and writers used to speculate about who these two people were and what their story was,

And the photograph captured the imagination of many.

It is currently at the Museum of Modern Art,

A time capsule from another era,

From another part of the world.

And now I look at Elaine and Victor,

A young couple on a train,

A nod to a piece of art created more than forty years ago.

I continue writing their story in my head.

What if this young woman is also pregnant, she just doesn’t show it yet?

I imagine that she is two months pregnant now,

And this is her first baby.

Soon she will start wearing a different wardrobe,

To fit her growing belly.

But for now,

She still can wear her favorite jeans.

Their baby girl will be born in a few short months,

And they will start a family,

Just like their fellow train riders from Romania did in 1975.

Couple on a train, Romania, 1975. Photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson. 

Collection of Museum of Modern Art.

From my book of poetry Sunset in Toronto, page 56.