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One rider loves the CTA so much, she wrote a poem about it

We don’t always publish poems, but when we do, they’re about the CTA (and give RedEye a shoutout *woot woot*).

Reader Elaine Reich sent us a poem she wrote about her observations of a CTA train, and we thought you might enjoy reading it, too.

City of the Train

These are my people

I am one of them

The people of the train.

Red Line, Brown Line, Blue Line

A woman puts on make-up during the morning rush.

This is Roosevelt.

Transfer to Green and Orange Line trains at Roosevelt.

Thank you for riding the CTA Red Line.

A man reads the Redeye

Careful to dodge the backpack of the student

Standing next to him.

This is Jackson.

Doors closing

Office workers, salespeople, students

Mothers with children, friends,

Security guards, tourists

Green Line, Pink Line, Orange Line

The people pour out of the train.

The people cram into the train.

All languages spoken here.

Spanish, English, Chinese, Polish

Purple Line, Yellow Line

Chicago and State is next.

Doors open on the right

At Chicago and State.

The languages of the people

Communicating

Sharing

The train

Elaine Reich, September 2016

The 57-year-old Lakeview resident works as a math instructor at Mathnasium West DePaul and frequently rides the Red and Brown lines to work.

“Riding the Red Line has a rhythm to it that resonates with me,” she wrote in an email. “All of the riders, we are a part of that rhythm, and so we are like a community which I called my people.”

@RianneCoale | rcoale@redeyechicago.com