Gampaha Station

We met in the dark and it was damp

So many people pressed at the window I knew for sure I'd miss the train

But two hours later when I was done waiting

I had seen hundreds, maybe thousands of people on the opposite track get on the trains to Colombo 

I dropped a pen early and unaware was given it 

No train had a sign 

And no schedule was posted

So every train in my direction

I had to ask

And got an assortment of answers places times directions only a few of which I understood. 

Learning

that my train was due at 6:38 I asked a likely fellow if this was the one

"Kandy" he told me, and slipped on. 

Next a young woman I asked demurred had she understood me? But the next train I got on with the crowd and someone told me it was Anuradhapura bound. 

Gampaha. Lonely for all its crowds. Empty for its crush. Forlorn for its lively morning schedule. Soft for all its spikey pineapples. Gampaha murky in the dark and in the light. Your paper New Years decorations still installed. Your paper seller still walking the platforms. Giving me the first glimpse of Singhala typeface. Giving me something but not information 

except

You are here.