Men from the Commons

Poetry by ​Noah Christopher

Northeast Ohio Writer

My grandfather used to work on the tracks through Cleveland,
and my father still talks about working at the Steelyard like it was going to church.

I imagine that,
had my grandparents not split,
and Grandad not died when I was too young to know him,
he might still be doing the things my mother said he did:
insulating crossroad after crossroad,
renewing our baking pans in an industrial furnace,
and carving the ley lines for something greater.

I don’t know how to be a man like that,
and I don’t think I will ever want to.

But,
this morning when I rose,
and I heard the train whistle choir-like--
as infrequently as they do in my suburb removed--

I imagined that those were his prayers
echoing out of every rail spike
malleted into the ground.
A chime of effort, hollow but evocative.

Just imagine that,
a preacher’s words over a dying industry,
fatherly motifs ineffective.
My memory rusts but doesn’t fade.

Noah Christopher

Noah Christopher (They/Them) is a Black and queer performer, writer, and Cleveland, Ohio native. They studied Musical Theatre at Kent State University, and work for the Cuyahoga County Public Library. They recently had their first works published in Accidental Magazine (Endings, 2025), and The Cyril A. Dostal Poetry Workshop Anthology (2024). When they are not writing or performing, they enjoy gaming, exercising, thrifting, and exploring new places in their hometown.