On The Train Through Switzerland - Richard Fox

a girl with raven black hair handed me a perfect orange.

The orange crossed the aisle as easily as the conversion of metric distance
to familiar statute mile

& there in her hand was the Israeli orchard in which it was grown,
& in the flanking hills the shepherds wander—

watchful eyes on sheep, each to each well-known

Would that we were all shepherds or fishermen, dividing fishes & loaves
amid the clicking of cicadas in the olive groves.

Adam was seduced by an orange I suppose, & the pastiche
of mythology is perfect & round,

forcing our hands, melting our wings, plunging us into night
or into travel across the ground

like a snake, & whether this journey takes me through Hades
or Europe, it is hunger that divides & unites:

the Tigris & the Euphrates.

Originally published by ArtWord 1996

Richard Fox has been a regular contributor of poetry and visual art to online and print literary journals. He has been recipient of a full poetry fellowship from the Illinois Arts Council, a CAAP work support grant from the City of Chicago, and a work fellowship at the Millay Colony.

Swagger & Remorse, his first book of poetry, was published in 2007. He is currently working on several collections of soundscapes, which are being made available online at Bandcamp: https://richardfox.bandcamp.com/

A poet and visual artist, he holds a BFA in Photography from Temple University, Philadelphia. A former Chicago resident, he now lives in Salt Lake City, UT.