Inspired Version of the Rattling Train

The carriages sway and how they shudder Rattling behind the one-eyed monster A powerful beam lighting the tracks ahead Piercing the gloom, onward it sped Unaware, uncaring the driver slept Was destination destined or would it be death? Windows barred to keep cold night at bay The passengers asleep where they sit or lay The rhythm of wheels, fast and frenetic The rock of wagons deepening their sleep Belching black smoke, the behemoth thundered Could death be averted, the angels wondered Ere the train broke the night’s quiet The countryside slumbered in the cold night And after the train had thundered past Birds screeched, freed from the spell that night had cast Their banshee shrieks echoing ominously in the dark Nature’s feathered creatures had gone berserk Clickety clack clickety clack went the wheels Changing tracks and terrain with no change in speed Just when it seemed that all souls were lost The pace slackened - speed and distance had extracted its cost With limbs gone limp, the stoker collapsed and lay still And the train slowed down, creaking and groaning as it went uphill