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January 8, 2022

Train Yard




sitting around on grassy hill watching the freight cars
creepy crawly come into the yard, sky turning industrial gray

slap bang into each other just another day

air brakes hissing, couplers coupling and uncoupling

boxcars in a crayon box of colors, mostly faded

looking sad like their far from home and family

keep a picture in their wallet

hopper cars hopped up on street something 

gondolas loaded up with scrap metal

coal from the mines of hard scrabble west virginia and other points east

crude oil in tank cars filled by crude men

whose god is a full flask

auto transport cars all metaled up to keep

the rockthrowers from scoring

flatcars with truck trailers riding piggyback

flat car riders have disappeared into railroad history 

it’s getting dark now, red and white lights of automobiles in the distance 

flickering on lonely interstate bridge 

dusty red or green lights prominent among the black metal

diesel locomotives having put in a hard day’s work have clocked out

a short sleep for the night in the cold

another hard day of work tomorrow

now in the dark stumbling my way to the trackside coffee house 

to warm up and dream about the old days as a boomer