the   train    is    a   dashing   arrow 
 over              the               sea. 
                                     
                                    
                                     
 look    closer   -   it's   not   water. 
                                    
                                  
                                    
 the  lowland which was  once the midriff 
 of  sweden.  the  salt  flats  span  for 
 hundreds  of  miles. from a  narrow line 
 of hills  the  train  lowers itself onto 
 the crystals  and shoots north,  like  a 
 syringe       into       a       baloon. 
                                  
                                
                                  
                                
                                  
 they call  it  the  "mandelbrot crater", 
 and it is the rest of a mining disaster. 
                                    
                                   
                                    
 sun hits  the four-railed  track,  as it 
 fractures into  villages or  past  them. 
 the  people  here  are  pale but  crisp, 
 reflections    of   some   other   world 
                                     
                                    
                                     
 they  always seem a bit annoyed that you 
 are   manifesting  them   into  physical 
 form.  like  if you weren't  here,  they 
 would  be  nothing  more  than  the  sun 
 against           the           platform