TRAINS TODAY
Trains today run
red and cold;
long, brown boxed
oiled black and yellow
bellow over strips of steel.
Masters once of power,
now not so bold.
Slow cross over land
strain and whine
riverside
ride once rich country
stripped down in such short a' time.
Octopus lines, its tentacles cut
hauls the freight
“too expensive”, says the man,
“to cater to the folks,
they flies now.”
Once so much a master,
now you are the slave,
you, who once inspired the blues
can sing them
Slowowowow
and mournful--
down the line.
Amtrak is in business in the US, but trains don't move people here as they once did; the country is vast. We either drive or fly now. They say there are plans to change that. Time will tell. Some of us go to Europe just to ride the trains (and enjoy their stations!
© Gay Reiser Cannon * All Rights Reserved
i just love "Octopus lines, its tentacles cut
ReplyDeletehauls the freight" but...that sounds like you've been flying over train yards?
i feel so privileged to live in europe and that i'm able to ride all these trains...they are still so powerful over here gay...in another way...want to ride the TGV from Basel to Paris in the near future...and there are many more...recently rode the train from rome to grosseto and from basel to strasbourg... basel to hamburg...magical train rides. so glad you linked up such a beautiful poem gay...much love your way
ReplyDeleteit is so sad that there really are few passenger trains still avl...would love to take a train trip as i think it truly romantic...now it is just freight...perhaps once more i should jump a train....
ReplyDelete@zongrik - "octopus" an allusion to a book written by Frank Norris about California Ranchers and the railroad that wraps around them and robs them of years of hard work. It portrayed the time in the US when train companies ruled, and today they've fallen very low and only exist as mergers, beautiful train stations gone, picturesque ones turned into little town banks.
ReplyDeleteNice walk through train history
ReplyDeleteYeah, I got those passengerless train blues - who doesn't, these days ... relegated to someone else's -- the Man's -- freight. Fine poem, Gay. - Brendan
ReplyDeleteA lot of history ran along those rails--sad to see it as it is today. Your poem has that late night mournful sound, Gay, and now when I hear one passing, I'll know it's a train with the blues.
ReplyDeleteThis made me really sad: "Octopus lines, its tentacles cut
ReplyDeletehauls the freight
“too expensive”, says the man,
“to cater to the folks,
they flies now.”"
I sometimes wish non-main city folk could travel more by train instead of plane, buses and cars, but alas... Those were the older days lost.
Once so much a master,
ReplyDeletenow you are the slave
nice.....
The rise and fall of train transportation - I'm reminded of the tiems when the railroads had a stranglehold on farmers - gave birth to the populist movement and William Jennings Bryan.
ReplyDeleteGood poem, Gay.
Beautiful poem.....wish we could travel more by trains. It is the experience I miss.
ReplyDeleteOctopus lines, its tentacles cut
ReplyDeletehauls the freight...
...
Once so much a master,
now you are the slave,
you got me hearing the train in the rhythm of the lines and sounds of words,
time tunnel
and blues.
A beautiful swan song for the glorious hey day of trains as grand adventure carriages!
ReplyDeleteYour words really pulled me in, great write! ~ Rose
ReplyDeleteI love the slowowowowow! I love to travel by train, and took amtrak from Detroit to San Antonio a few years ago...so glad I did. I also remember traveling by train from Detroit to California when I was five years old! Really enjoyed your poem, Gay. :-)
ReplyDeleteSo interesting Gay.. great way of capturing a train moment... blues mournful down the line..
ReplyDeleteI hate how time changes some of the best parts of history. Maybe someone will revive passenger trains as you said. And, love Johnny Cash. Such an amazing man.
ReplyDeleteGay-- first let me thank you for your most wonderful comment on my poem. I have often taken poetic license with family history and the Codingtons came into New Mexico Territory in the late 1800's, one Minnie Codington marrying my great-grandfather, Bernard S. Rodey, who founded the University of New Mexico. I hope to revive more of our history with names and some circumstances changed as time goes on.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is rich and evocative-- it made me think that trains, with other iconic images, have served to make our world familiar to us; although I often bitch about the ones that come through our city in the middle of the day, I always feel my spirits lift when I hear them.
I especially love:
Trains today run
red and cold;
long, brown boxed
oiled black and yellow
bellow over strips of steel.
beautiful!
xxJenne'
A train ride is romantic so says many but the irony of it is that it is still very tiring. Very good run through history!
ReplyDeleteHank
you, who once inspired the blues
ReplyDeletecan sing them
Slowowowow
and mournful--
down the line
Great close and thanks for Johnny!
Trains are full going up and down the California Coast. Yes, lots of freight lines as well. I would love to board a train to Montana and Dakotas. I think the blues were invented on the trains. Great poem
ReplyDeleteSlowowowow
ReplyDeleteand mournful
ooh... I liked that. Beautiful write... with sadness. Never heard that song before. Still remember puttin' my ear to the track. Thanks Gay.
It's a perfect shift to have the train sing the blues as the system slows and slows. We would love to see a commuter line between Detroit and Grand Rapids, but I doubt it will ever happen now. A fine, tight poem.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, it is so great to meet you at last! Thank you for the wonderful poets pub.
I feel the locomotion (not so slow) all the way through your poem...thanks for the ride.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved in where I live now, I would hear the trains only once or twice a night, from across the yard and road. Now they seem to run hourly all night long, commuters and freight.
ReplyDeleteAm assuming at least for this area, the popularity is increasing again. They have even restored the old western station in a town across the valley from me.
i enjoyed your poem very much as well as that cash song:)
ReplyDeleteFeels a bit different from you here? A departure (on a train ha)? Like the feel of this piece. Free, casual; not better, just different. (I'd be inclined to left-align rather than centre it though :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent as ever my friend
I love this. It reads so musically. Gives me a shiver and makes my eyes wet.
ReplyDelete