Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Running The Rails



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Late at night 
to early morning 
the train station 

Rodents run rails 
men in lines of fours, fives  
and against the rules
alone

Wrapped tight 
against the November cold 
an oil faced worker 

Marching up the down line 
he counts out loud 
bending periodically 
to spray paint a sleeper

Oh can you hear
the blowing of the whistle?

Paul Conneally

Loughborough 2013

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I strongly associate with this image, mostly for the sound. I live on the Mississippi river, at its northernmost port, but equally important to this relatively young city's development (1845 or so; old for the Midwest)were the railroads. The robber baron James J. Hill's mansion sits atop the Ramsey hill looking down toward the river levee.

Even still one can awake in the middle of the night and hear the rumblings of the trains moving.