Itching
itching
nowhere
to scratch
Rambling
rambling
balling
the jack
Freight car
open
voices
interred
The brakeman
singing
"Turn
"Turn
"Turn"
(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)
Categories:
brakeman, time,
Form: Rhyme
Hornby's Corner,
I overheard
as our train whizzed past
the clanging railway crossing
to the commuter station ahead.
Used to be a station,
with the best ice cream
in the world.
In the summer, we would come
after church on Sunday.
We had contests
to see whose cone
lasted longest
as we watched
the trains rumble by
and waved to the engineer
and the brakeman
in the caboose.
Dad sold the farm
years ago,
they live in
a condo nearby.
Last summer,
we took the kids
to the Corner
but the ice cream
wasn't very good.
Categories:
brakeman,
Form: Free verse
The old steam engine chugged trying to reach the top,
Slowly it inched as the pressure valves were about to pop.
Just a few more feet and it would start its journey down,
And it would then be up to the brakeman to keep them from over shooting the town.
Well it made the top and started picking up speed,
And they slowed down the shoveling of the coal, cause there wasn’t much need.
You could hear those brakes a squealing as they tightened the wheel,
They had to get her slowed down fore the next curve or they’d all take a spill.
About that time dead ahead on those tracks,
Another train was a coming, a clickety, clack.
The old engineer was a blowing on his whistle, whoo, whoo, but to no avail,
For twas a runaway train, with an engine from hell.
A hundred thousand tons of steel, slamming together, makes an awful loud noise,
An on that curve took the lives of that crew, all mighty fine boys.
They had no place to jump, so they had to make this final ride,
And as the news gave way their womenfolk cried.
Categories:
brakeman, death, dedication, devotion, lifeold,
Form: Verse
These ideals I avoid
Perplex me most annoyed
So wrapped up in myself
Faith kneels down on a shelf
Lost beyond conceit here
This azure mirage sphere
Claims my journeys aren't done
Since trials have just begun
I let you down again
Rage abhors the brakeman
My blood denies its roots
While my consciousness loots
Belief denies assent
This foul bile shall ferment
Dissolving from within
Pasts fixed with a clothespin
Just what spawns this wild hair?
I'm still trudging nowhere
Hoping won't stop my slide
Staggering from bromide
Pupils reveal my loss
Those dots can't reach across
That vast gap in between
What my third eye has seen
My rods and cones race off
When truth and faith face-off
Behind suns where you hide
Outbursts lurk deep inside
Far too brilliant to face
In our system's crankcase
Blazes fume from passions
Ebbing holy rations
Prayers burn as they stroke you
From caustic residue
I don't deserve your trust
Since toxins sear robust
Holes within your design
And visions most divine
Dash from my open eye
Begging for your reply
Categories:
brakeman, confusion, loss
Form: Couplet