The Tramp

On the evening train
I found a man whose house
Was an old church off Blackwell
He did not know of God
But could tell me of his rites
Like the lines in his palms
Like the taste of cigarettes
He had seen the towers gleam
On the waves of the Hudson
As glass highrises waved
But he did not know God
Upon a restless night
He filled his mind with gravel
As the railroad crunched underfoot
He had known the trails well
From Hoboken to Columbia
But he had never known God
And upon a bitter night
While his child cried and wife nagged
The man from the midnight train
Took a walk in a moonless night
Took a misstep upon the rails
Took a turn to meet God