Imagination
Tommy was a bus driver
Who drove his bus real slow
The passengers were teddy bears
Who told him where to go
Mary was a butterfly
With shining silky wings
She flew around the garden
Dressed up in pretty things
Billy was an engine driver
It was his bestest dream
His train was from the old days
The kind that ran on steam
Johnny was an astronaut
Who journeyed to the stars
One day when he was older
He’d really go to mars
Nancy was a nurse
And if you broke your toe
She’d wrap it up in bandages
And tie them in a bow
The land of imagination
Is a lovely place to be
It doesn’t cost a dollar
‘Cos imagination’s free.
Chuffa train, Chuffa train, chuffin down the track again
Chuffa train, Chuffa train, chuffin down the track
Iron wheels on rails of steel, clickety clack, clickety clack
Chuffa train, Chuffa train, bicycles right at the back
Chuffa train, Chuffa train, glad you’re on the track again
Chuffa train, Chuffa train, glad to hear you’re back
Buffet car for drink or snack, clickety clack, clickety clack
Chuffa train, Chuffa train, engine driver sooty black
Chuffa train, Chuffa train let your whistle blow again
Chuffa train, Chuffa train mind the doors and mind the gap
Hissing steam, depart the station, clickety clack, clickety clack
Chuffa train, Chuffa train, locomotin’ there and back
chhh-ta-cuff, chhh-ta-cuff
The train chugging back and forth
Looked out of the window.
The beautiful landscape floating by
I wish I was there in the fresh air
Aha, the train stopped at Calais station,
the engine driver has got down.
It is the time for uploading the coal
And will take more time to fire
the engine of the steam locomotive.
I saw the Towers of Canterbury.
My mind was full the Chaucerian images.
Felt peace with waters of English Channel
I heard the whistle and chhh-ta-cuff sound
I ran and running the train I got aboard.
I again I looked out of the window
And saw green meadows and willows,
the English dolls strolling by.
I put out my head out of the window
Oh, my face was dark with the soot
and my eyes aching with the grit.
I heard the sound of the engine along
Recalling the words of R.L. Stevenson
"Faster than fairies, faster than witches."
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January 23, 2015
Form: Free Verse
Second Place Win