Railway

 

On the railway inside

With a heavy payload,

I continue as this thought

And ignore the switch tracks

 

The engineer is my passenger

And I pull a freight of gold

With electronic waste

Never reaching the climax

 

I push the eighth notch

Highball to the next yard

But the cargo betrays you

I am full of double-stacks

 

Sparks take wing

The stress of steam

The strain of steel

The engine screams!

 

~

 

The derailment was close

Nothing was lost, except

The lives at the crossbuck

And the tears you wept

 

~

 

You decouple the old cars

And spot my new direction

I pick up broken passengers

Stopping at the next station

 

Over white-diamond mountains

Through obsidian-filled tunnels

Sunflower fields that glisten

And muscle-flexed trestles

 

Content in the journey of today

Not the destination of tomorrow

With treasures beyond the railway

Leading others as I follow …

 

 

 

 

Eighth notch: The final notch in the throttle; the most powerful position

Highball: A signal to operate a train at full speed.

Double-stack: Stacking one container on top of another

Crossbuck: The X shaped sign where the tracks cross a road

 

 

 

[“I” is the personification of a thought; and “you” 
is the mind, or the human containing the mind.]

Dave Douglas is a writer from Pleasanton, California and an avid cyclist. He may be reached at carpevelo@gmail.com