Home » Poems » Rhona Mcferran » Old Hobo Dies Hard

Old Hobo Dies Hard

Train whistles still call me
in the dead of night
recalling wanderlust
days of youth, tugging
something
inside me tight
Vacant curiosity of what
might have been
another place
another lifetime
remembering when
I was free, with
nothing to lose but
The Sadness
I carried overseas
(and back again)
like a bulky bag of
dirty laundry grown large 

Older now, I thought I'd
done my washing
dried, pressed, folded
put away... And yet-
suddenly I feel that
familiar weight
on my back
gunnysack of Sadness
fraught with longing
daring me to break away
for destinations unknown
leave today- this
temporary madness
of suburban ways


____

Even though I'm pretty "settled" at this stage of life, train whistles always stir that restless part of me that refuses to accept that I'm too old to jump up & take off for 'regions unbounded' like I once did...

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Freddie Robinson Jr.

Date: 10/26/2019 6:48:00 AM

Outstanding poem, Rhona! This urban boy lived a good portion of "suburban madness." So I know that "trapped in Pleasantville" feeling. Star bright write. Love and more love always.

Rhona Mcferran
Date: 10/26/2019 4:11:00 PM

Thank you, my friend! I really appreciate your kind encouragement. Much love to you, too! ;)

Richard Lamoureux

Date: 9/13/2019 7:31:00 PM

I have the same feelings around hitchhiking. There is something about the open road and not knowing what is around the next corner. I enjoyed your poem.

Rhona Mcferran
Date: 9/14/2019 10:25:00 AM

Thank you so much! ;)

Caren Krutsinger

Date: 9/11/2019 3:05:00 PM

There is such a sweet nostalgic proactive feel to this one! "Vacant curiosity of what might have been another place another lifetime" Beautiful Rhona.

Rhona Mcferran
Date: 9/11/2019 7:48:00 PM

Aawww, thank you so much, Soul Sister! ;)

M. L. Kiser

Date: 9/10/2019 1:28:00 PM

There's something about trains; I can't put my finger on it but, it's powerful. Beautifully penned.

Rhona Mcferran
Date: 9/10/2019 5:00:00 PM

Thank you so much! ;)

Michelle Faulkner

Date: 8/16/2019 4:29:00 PM

So evocative of my early twenties when I was convinced happiness was always somewhere else - although once in a while still I hear a train whistle and wonder (darn now I will have to write a poem about it)

Rhona Mcferran
Date: 8/17/2019 2:13:00 PM

Ha!! I see this resonates with you, too! Train whistles are made of powerful stuff... ;)

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 8/14/2019 5:07:00 PM

outstanding free verse, Rhona. I wish all writers of free verse used such a good and lucid style as this.

Rhona Mcferran
Date: 8/15/2019 2:14:00 PM

Thank you SO much!! ;) (I am very relieved that you find this "good and lucid"... as my sleep-deprived brain has been so muddled lately that I wasn't entirely sure how it came out!)