a hollow whistle splits opaque atmosphere, skies sigh
heavily, waiting on mother’s lace to drape vapid land;
blow. blow. before that snow billows, metal boxes roll,
rusted rails a rumblin’, blowin’ like Ellington takin’
Strayhorn’s “A” train home. Roam, empty alleyways,
cutting through shanty riddled yards, housing busted
babies donning broken smiles wearing beat up guitars;
envisioning western starlight, skinny Guthrie wannabes
wishing Tennessee waltzes ‘em off frozen lines
into feathered comfort toasting a roaring fire;
boxcar willie hands with a youth’s grin a shinin’,
roll. roll. sunrise burning off last night’s whiskey bed,
slide doors wide open, bleary eyed; frosted countryside,
mountain’s crystalline divide passing, pullin’ em back;
winter’s shiver settles in and they wait for Cali light;
sleep wiping yellow eyes; rail weary but ready,
conductor’s whistle sounding final rights, blow. blow.
jumping tracks seeking angels, prayin’ some miracle
sings em right; no more busted ties, just a steady
ride where future rolls wide open; train. train.
roll ‘em home before heaven shines its light.
roll ‘em home before hell becomes the night.
train. train. your whistle will sing ‘em home.
*******************************
It’s link up night over at dVerse pub. It is a fine place to linger over a pull of stout or a glass of cab while reading the stylings of so many talents. All are welcome to visit & link. ~ cheers
As an aside, dVerse had a prompt this weekend regarding trains. I missed it, so I thought I would do mine tonight. I grew up with the local rail running behind my house. There is nothing more beautiful than to see a train barrel through a snow-covered landscape at the pitch of night. There is also nothing more haunting than a train whistle when it splits the night.
claudia
/ 2011/09/21oh nice…thanks for another train ride angie…lots of music in here…train whistles give me the chills…they are haunting and full of adventure and sadness…singin’ em home…whew..love this
Cindy
/ 2011/09/21As Claudia says … you rock
Pat Hatt
/ 2011/09/21Great lyrical feel to this verse, enjoyed your train ride, keep on going down the tracks.
Brendan
/ 2011/09/21Glad you lingered with Sunday’s prompt. It’s stellar for that challenge and perfect here. The primrose path has rails here:
roll ‘em home before heaven shines its light.
roll ‘em home before hell becomes the night.
train. train. your whistle will sing ‘em home.
… Chugging right through the dark sides of the life. Loved it. – Brendan
libraryscene
/ 2011/09/22You’ve tagged my favourite, Brendan.
brian
/ 2011/09/21nice…love allthe references through out…def lyrical…my fav lines are the same as brendans…glad you briught this back….
hedgewitch
/ 2011/09/21Well worth waiting for–one of the best pure train poems of the lot here–great internal rhyme, the very breath of train wheel rhythm in the repetition, and the whistle wail in the night so many musicians have used to fuel their notes. Like Dylan says, “It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry…”
libraryscene
/ 2011/09/22very very kind, Joy. I love the Dylan line…wish I had wrote that..smile ~
Mark Kerstetter
/ 2011/09/21You’re one of the most musical poets on the scene, and this one’s great. Any chance you’ll give us an audio reading sometime?
libraryscene
/ 2011/09/22a great compliment, Mark, thank you. I’ve recorded a few things over time, but I don’t pay for wordpress, ergo, I must record via YouTube. It is a bit daunting (not to mention I’m not a fabulous reader!)
kateshrewsday
/ 2011/09/21This is fab, Angela, but then I’m a bit of a train spotter myself. Your poem has an energy which goes with the age of diesel and steam
pandamoniumcat
/ 2011/09/21So enjoyable… and quite beautiful. I could feel, hear and imagine that train barrel through the snow.
Sarah Johnston
/ 2011/09/21Train rides are so inspirational and so fun to be on. The old noise the sound of the tracks and the people you meet inside what a lovely trip this one is thank you for sharing
http://gatelesspassage.com/2011/09/20/the-fait-of-our-lands/
Carl D'Agostino
/ 2011/09/21I think year 1931 Americans would understand this in their own special way
libraryscene
/ 2011/09/22a most interesting era…would have enjoyed, but not, you know?
Ravenblack
/ 2011/09/22This is very fun to read. There’s a nice beat to it, I find myself enjoying the scenes in the poem and the words does indeed roll, like the train.
Enjoyed it very much.
libraryscene
/ 2011/09/22RB, thank you for the visit and kind comments. Most grateful ~
johnallenrichter
/ 2011/09/22Claudia is right, this is an absolute song! Let me say first that a rock group called Blackfoot wrote a song titled “Train. Train.” and that is what first popped into my mind when I saw your title. But that was soon dismissed as soon as the lovely rythm of your poem envloped me entirely. We had two set of rails in my little home town, one on the north side and one on the south. As a young child, I mean really young, 4 or 5, I would lay in bed at night, after being sent there at our rigid 9 pm time, and wait, because at about 9:30 that evening south-side train would blow it’s whistle over on “L” street, about a couple of miles from us. Of course we didn’t have air conditioning in the early 60′s, windows were always wide open, and that whistle would breathe itself in through the screen along with the chatter of crickets and soothe my soul to the bone…. Oh the glory of that traveling train and railmen soaked into my imagination every night, drifting me into the most peaceful, contented sleep. I remember vry earnestly just laying quietly in our bunk bed on those nights just waiting for that whistle to come, the most pleasant part of my ending day….. I just wanted you to know that your poem, the great ride it details, and your story just absolutely took me back there….. thank you…..
libraryscene
/ 2011/09/22You are most kind for sharing your thoughts, John. Ironically, I know the song you speak. This poem has morphed from something different that started out with “A” Train on my mind. (I shall post the other version today). When I started to rewrite, train. train. came to mind and I couldn’t trace the roots, but I just played Blackfoot on youtube and it IS the song that I heard in my head.
I’m most humbled that I was able to take you back to that time. There is something magical when you are a child and the tracks (good or bad) are part of your life ~