Population 76

[71degrees]

Thank you for explaining, the title makes so much more sense in that context.  In fact the title sort of works like the key to unlocking the rest of the poem.  It's been so long since I've studied poetry that I have forgotten all these hundreds of little things to look for when reading.  I still like it, knowing the true meaning.   One question, where are the men?  They weren't tethered with the women and children and that is what made me assume they were on on the trains.  Just curious,  I like the picture this paints and I have the moms and babies standing in the doorway but don't know where to put the dads.  
--Quix

Quix, Aside from the uncountable one parent families out there for whatever reasons, I grew up in a railroad town. Many of the men had jobs where they laid over for a few days. They had fun. Many of them lived an almost separate existence. The women and children back home never had an opportunity to go anywhere. I like minimalistic poems...hard to capture all this in 15 words. If the poem took you somewhere else, I'm good w/that. Thanks for your interest here.