John L. Stanizzi

Train 
 
The train’s grave whistle
ascends from every tree in the valley
spreads out in the sky everywhere at once
and I move quietly
through mansions of light
as if not wanting to disturb
the vocalizations
of these rarest of affluent creatures
 
I ascend along the clay road
dreaming all day
of impossible journeys
 
I’ve always done this
 
And as each light in each window pales
I wake and return
to the clay road
and a night sky full of holes
a reminder of what I have chosen
and what was chosen for me
as if they’re somehow different
 

John L. Stanizzi, author of fifteen collections, with number 16 appearing shortly after the first of 2025. Besides Young Ravens his poems are in American Life in Poetry, Cortland Review, New York Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, and many others. Former Etherington Scholar/Wesleyan University, his non-fiction story, Pants, was named best creative non-fiction piece from the journal Potato Soup Journal. He received a Fellowship in Creative Writing from the Connecticut Department of Creativity, Culture, and Diversity. Non-fiction is very widely published.  A Former Professor of English in Connecticut, John lives in Coventry, CT with his wife Carol.