Trains

Trains appear in the first two stanzas, introducing the framework of the man’s life. They facilitate the “distance” referenced in the title and allow the central character to move from one state of being to another. Trains encompass the same paradox that defines the man’s life: they are substantial and romantic, and yet by their very nature they’re ephemeral.

The Harmonica

The only true possession mentioned in the poem is the unnamed man’s harmonica, “tarnished green with spit and time” (Line 4). Later, he plays a song “from another life” (Line 25); this suggests the harmonica is a relic left from before the man became homeless, and that it reminds him of who he used to be.