These poems cover a wide variety of subjects and are written for enjoyment. Some of the poetry describes personal events in my life, and discoveries I have made surviving through these events. I work in Los Angeles and have a long commute. During my commute I need to stay occupied. One of my favorite things to do on the train is to write poetry. All of these poems were written on my commute.

Traveling through Rhyme

Poems written during my commuteBy Eva McDonough

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Eva McDonough
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-2934-0

Contents

Section 1 - Commuting..........................................xiSection 2 - Memories...........................................13Section 3 - My Soldier.........................................45Section 4 - Being Grateful For What I Have.....................55Section 5 - Nature.............................................73Section 6 - Explaining Scientifically..........................93Section 7 - Highlighters.......................................101Section 8 - True Friendship....................................109Section 9 - A Limerick And Other Thoughts......................124

Chapter One

Section 1 - Commuting

Getting to work - Haiku

Getting to work Stressful commute on the road Relaxing time on the rail

Metro link - Haiku

Metrolink Work, station, get on board, conversation, friend, station Home.

Why I ride I have ridden on the train For many years And I do it gladly Even among the fears Of pedestrians, car, trucks, Or shopping carts For all the passengers I have learned to know Have won my heart Traveling Buy a ticket, get on board Find a seat and rest Soon the train doors will shut close And we all are headed west. You are on the Metrolink On your way to work Think about the day ahead Where your co-worker is a jerk And the conversation starts Just around your seat Talks of sport scores, current news Family events and the heat. You share candy and pictures And tell of your life You listen intently About the passenger's wife And while you still travel Slowly on the rail You find you are among friends And your life is really swell. Sharon Intelligent, well dressed Educated, all the best Funny smart and kind Never know what's on her mind. Conversations are fun Her imagination runs Different things are said What Sharon says she might dread. She tries to stay quiet But soon her voice rings riot Laughter all around Sharon again made a sound Truths told about her son Other things she may have done Then there is a story Interpretation Glory! Once again the train ride Has shown us Sharon's true side As something was said And Sharon's face turns bright red. Stinky Feet On a Metrolink train we do not care If you have frizzy hair or stinky feet You can have tattoos or even piercing As long as your feet are not on your seat Your ticket is for a place for your butt The table needs to be shared by all four But only two lap tops fit comfortable With cooperation I have seen more Every now and then some one has too much The luggage is way too big and must stay Out in the aisle or in front of them And it seems to be in every one's way. To travel with a lunch pail and paper The quarters are cramp and the seats fit tight A jacket and a hot cup of coffee That's about all you can have to fit right. So if you have stinky feet please beware That not only do we share the small train But we have to sit close, tight and breathe air So wear shoes and socks so we won't complain. Laughter There is always time for friends and laughter On the Riverside Metrolink train ride Sometimes we all laugh so hard and so long That we wind up with a pain in our side. Some jokes are told and retold yet again Some jokes told make absolutely no sense Some jokes have a beginning but no end That's how Isabel kept us in suspense. There's the McDonald hamburger story When new people sit in our car we share We talk about the phase 4 train project Oh, some things are funny beyond compare. Sometimes we are just laughing about us We've know each other for so many years We are short, we are wild, we are too loud Some are funny as soon as a cop nears. We forget each other's names, or do we Richard and Joseph sound really the same There is Kermit Junior, and tiny Tim And Lucy, who knows every bodies name. Sometimes we deal in serious matters Listening intently as others expound On bad illegal fraud deceit and theft From the train he is taken to impound. So take the train ride, sit back and enjoy All in all if in the morning or night Even if Jose sleeps this whole ride through Laughter on the train always seems so right Runners Ding, Ding, Ding Last call "doors will be closing" Run, Run, Run Passengers arriving late Wait, Wait, Wait We see runners approaching Go, Go, Go Let the runners meet their fate Stop, Stop, Stop The conductor opens up In, In, In The later passenger comes in Close, Close, Close We finally move forward Move, Move, Move Our train ride can begin. "The most embarrassing items that a Metrolink search might find" On any given day I carry with me A variety of odd things to work I pack it all in my suitcase and bag Some people really think I am berserk Banana guard, puzzles, pens and paper Pop tarts, soda pop, crackers and cream cheese An umbrella or two, or maybe three My several rings of work, play, home, and car keys Emergency things I also carry You never can tell when we will be stuck Extra medication, aspirin, cough drops Don't want to be unprepared; press my luck A fold away screwdriver, pliers, knife But the most embarrassing thing they'll find In a pocket zippered and well hidden Is where I left the rest of my small mind Gas Prices Billions of reported profits Are earned each and every year By the major gas companies Filling us with despair and fear They constantly raise gas prices They continue to have the gall They flaunt their absolute power Never to let gas prices fall Commuter Commuters are a strange breed when they say they are on their way to work Thatcouldmeanthattheyaresleeping,reading,ormaybeeatingtheirdessert. They could be writing poetry which of course is a favorite of mine Or they could be text-ting hundreds of people, tying up their phone lines. They could be chatting to their neighbor or eventually to themselves Christmas time they could be on the train all dressed as a Santa elf There is no limit to what public transportation commuters can do With the extra time he could dream sweet dreams, tell tall tales, or use the loo Commuting is different and exhausting and one must do it just right You wake up very early in the morning and get home late at night. You might be a train rider if ... You might be a train rider if You know all your first friend first name but not their last. You might be a train rider if You know what freeway exits leads to the next train station incase you are running late to work. You might be a train rider if You have a mobile office in your purse in case you run into a 3 hour delay. You might be a train rider if...