Login
|
Join PoetrySoup
Home
Submit Poems
Login
Sign Up
Member Home
My Poems
My Quotes
My Profile & Settings
My Inboxes
My Outboxes
Soup Mail
Contest Results/Status
Contests
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Quotes
Short Stories
Articles
Forum
Blogs
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Resources
Syllable Counter
Anthology
Grammar Check
Greeting Card Maker
Classifieds
Member Area
Member Home
My Profile and Settings
My Poems
My Quotes
My Short Stories
My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Random
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 18.218.184.214
Your Email Address:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email Address:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
I can remember at least four things that we did on train tracks, And one thing that I never did until I was an adult. Firstly, let me tell you what I did not do on a train track, because that is by far the easy part. Seven words will suffice: I never rode a train on one. We ran up and down the embankment and across the tracts on both sides. We were poor, underprivileged, and deprived of parks and play grounds, but we were blessed with healthy arms and legs. We used them to the fullest. We jumped off the track onto the side of the embankment just above the creek which was dry most of the time. We were leapers and jumpers and runners; and I tell you, the train tracts contributed much to the fun filled life of this Southern country boy. Apparently we never feared snakes, because we often hunted for black berries along the railroad tracks. Perhaps we counted the sweet taste of our mother's blackberry pie far superior to any fears we had of snakes. Also, I suspect the snakes heard us coming, and thought it best that they move on. We walked the tracts again and again. We competed each other over who could walk the longest without losing their balance and hopping off. This was by far the most fun of all of our “Track endeavors”. Of course the trains, seeing us in the distance, would always blow in plenty of time as they approached. We were energetic kids and dare devils on many things, but we never once played games with the trains. We were certain to get out of their way in good order. One word could describe what walking the tracts taught me, and became most useful in my life. That word is balance. I have found that the absence of balance in one’s life is a major recipe for instability. I learned “Balance” as a kid walking the rails on a train track. Who Knew? cj07232015PS
CAPTCHA Preview
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required