Train Romance

Description

In this collection of poems and images, Cat Weaver, Ken Silvestri, and Natasha Rabin explore the enchantment trains can bring. Trains share in the big and small events of people's lives, and remembered moments in them are depicted here as haunting, bittersweet, quietly nostalgic, and gently comic. "Train Romance" is a breathtaking book of poetry in which three poets have wedded a love of trains with their different poetic styles and a shared sense of rushing through space on a journey that may change one's life. In this volume, readers will hear the moan of a train's faraway whistle touching hearts with its sound of longing. They will enter spaces where the features of strangers open possibilities rather than represent closure. They will feel the rush of the great machine as it passes one by in a gust of wind on the platform. And they will be invited to recall or imagine the uncanny beauty of being inside something that carries them through the night, along tracks which, deep under their pillows, rhythmically click away the unseen distances.

KEN SILVESTRI was raised in Paterson, New Jersey where the poetry of William Carlos Williams, Allen Ginsberg, and Maria Mazziotti Gillan found their way through the industrial cracks. Three major railroads and seven stations provided an endless multitude of locomotive sounds. His poems have been published in the "Paterson Literary Review", "The Great Falls Anthology" and "LIPS". In addition to writing poems inhabited by trains, Ken can't remember when he didn't photograph all the railroad stations, train tracks and speeding railroad cars he encountered. Ken received his doctorate in Family Studies at Columbia University and is a practicing psychotherapist and certified classical homeopath. His book, "A Wider Lens: How to See Your Life Differently", was released in 2018. His chapbook, "Legacy Poems" is currently available as an e-book. He can be contacted via his website at: drkennethsilvestri.com. CAT WEAVER is the poet's pseudonym for Dr. Carole Weaver, motivational speaker (How Art Heals); author ("Side Effects: The Art of Surviving Cancer" and "Pies to Die For"); fundraiser (over $50 million for various non-profits); and former college professor (Iona College and University of Maryland). With a doctorate in English and years of teaching the American military in Europe, her well-traveled heart always had a chamber for the poetry of trains. But when Ken Silvestri and Natasha Rabin invited her to an exhibit of photographs and poetry on the subject, the portal to "Train Romance" opened. She is grateful to these partners for getting her on track with their generosity, talent and inspiration. NATASHA RABIN wrote her first poem in the third grade. That muse has visited her often, while leaving room for her children's book, "Year of the Cat", and for painting and collage to take precedence frequently since purchasing her first set of watercolors in Kyoto, Japan. Having worked in the film industry for many years and thrived on the collaborative nature of that artistic medium, "Train Romance" has been a gift of deep collaboration with her co-poets, Cat & Ken (dear friend and life partner, respectively). She is a recipient of two Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards, the first for her poem "Back to the Future", which appears in this volume. Natasha is currently developing a book of haiku - "Like a Work of Art" - that she also plans to illustrate.

"This amazing book, Train Romance , by Ken Silvestri, Natasha Rabin and Cat Weaver, brings us into their individual worlds and their unique fascination with trains. I love the entire book and I am grateful to these three poets who have reminded me of the longing that trains so often inspire." MARIA MAZZIOTTI GILLAN Poet, recipient of American Book Award for All That Lies Between Us "The universal experience of train travel is captured with nostalgia, humor and exquisite detail in Train Romance . Anyone who has ever leaned their forehead against the cool glass of a rushing train as it rolls through a lonely countryside will smile in recognition at this lovely collection." VINCE McKEWIN Screenwriter, The Replacements , Fly Away Home "This beautifully evocative book ignited long lost memories as a little boy riding the Super Chief with its Pleasure Dome observation deck. Chugging through consciousness, the hopeful imagery of this book delivers us to a world that is full of sensation." STEPHEN NACHMANOVITCH Author, The Art of Is and Free Play "Like the trains they take as subject, the poems in this collection carry the reader along a journey. Like an actual train journey, these poems leave us changed and enriched by the experience." ALISON STONE Poet, "ZOMBIES at the Disco", "Caught in the Myth" and "Dazzle" "If you have ever felt the lure, mystery and haunting seduction of trains, then Train Romance is a necessary addition to your bookshelf. Ken Silvestri, Natasha Rabin and Cat Weaver each contributed poems in strong distinctive voices that add power to this engaging manuscript, with memorable photographs by Ken Silvestri. Order your ticket for a journey that is Train Romance -- a book you'll read again and again." LAURA BOSS (1938-2021) Author of The Best Lover and Family Promises . Founder & Editor of Lips