Rollin’ on
silver track slipstreams
iron hide snake
union pacific markings
Rail track clatter under moon lit skies
beat poets pen jerks across the page
in a box car jungle
Freight train
touched by moon beams
explodes
into a cloud of moths
Screamin’ freight train
flickers red, blue, yellow
swaying leaves
Dormant in the morning tide
the union pacific dragon
iron hide locomotive wrapped in
angular skin, still, silent.
Head light flickers, flares
blazing flame withers the fabric of darkness
before the engine bellows, the
beast twitching, lurching, rollin’ out
silver track slipstreams billow in
its wake as the union pacific dragon
screams along steel tracks
gliding through pine cone valleys
skimming over bleached deserts
under moon beam storms
and unrepentant sun beams
before climbing into mountain peak mists
infinite iron tail disappearing
into boundless clouds
Head light tearing
into the night
box car vagabond
scrambles
Freight train rattle
the rail road rhythms
chronicled by the box car poets
Dormant, desolate
rusting hulk
the rail yard
its final resting place
Freight train rollin’ down the tracks
more than likely
its gone
its gone
and its never coming back
~~~
Ever since reading Jack Kerouac books I have always associated Freight Trains with Beat Poets and have in some way mythologized them, which I have tried to express with the central poem. The last poem inspired by the Grateful Dead song He’s Gone:
Picture Roll Call (First to last)
First Picture found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Freight_train_near_Shallowater_Texas.jp
Union Pacific pictures found here: http://www.freefoto.com/preview/25-22-28/Union-Pacific-freight-train
Final Picture found here: http://www.tibetrailway.com/train-pictures.htm
Golden Giraffes Riding Scarlet Flamingos Through The Desert of Forever 
REALLY like this and I do love the word ‘slipstreams’ 🙂
Thanks for the comment.
I’ll have to think of more ways to use the word “slipstreams”.
Wish my uncle was still alive (who loved trains) then I could forward this as this is a great tribute to the spirit of the American freight train. So many great lines — particularly loved “explodes
into a cloud of moths”
Thanks for the comment.
“great tribute to the spirit of the American freight train” – Thats one of the best things anyone has ever said about my writing. Thank you so much.
Wow, I can hear the trains – perfect subject for “beat” poetry, with that rhythm. Very well-crafted!
Thank you for the comment.
Whenever I see a freight train I instantly think of the beats. To me there inseperable now.
I read “On The Road” a while back, fascinating life. I don’t know much about the beat poets themselves, not really my style.
I like this except for the random placement of the verses. Thats all.
Jim
Thank you for the comment.
Oh, there all seperate poems. Sorry for not making that clear. I really have do a better job with that. The central one (Union Pacific Dragon) is one poem, the rest are seperate poems. Again sorry for the confusion.
On the Road is a fascinating read. I really should read it again.
All hail poetic license! Interesting, excellent prosody; Trains’ rhythms are hypnotizing…
If it lets me turn trains into dragons I’m all for it.
It’s always a good thing to write about trains. After reading your poems, whenever I have writer’s block, I think I’ll have a train roll by…
Thank you for the comment.
Your comment about writer’s block is intriguing. These poems were conceived in April but were only written in October. A challenging write, but also a worthy one.
Love love love everything about this post – the words and the pics…wonderful!
Thank you for the comment.
These were fun to write, and the pictures were fun to pick as well.
i dont want it to be gone and never come back…though that makes for a very lyrical close…i grew up by the tracks and often the trains would sing me to sleep so i loved the sound of your words and the imagery of the trains….
“iron hide locomotive wrapped in
angular skin, still, silent” love this line.
I’ve always loved trains and you carry their rhythm.
Great rhythm and feel here. Like I’m riding a train and reading. I like your association with the beat poets. Don’t think trains are on their way out just yet; dozens of them roll by every day, not too far from where I am. Lovely poem set.
Freight train
touched by moon beams
explodes
into a cloud of moths…..love, love, love this..
I run on a trail that used to be a railroad… the train may be gone, but its spirit is still there, I feel it. This had a wonderful train-like rhythm.
i like how it is hit by moonbeams, and disappears into the clouds
radiation rampage
I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train
I’d shine my light through cool Colorado rain.
Fantabulous !! your binging back serious memories here!!! Great Write !!!
Love the way you have presented this. “the union pacific dragon…” that image reasonated well with me. Nice to meet you and your talent.
Wonderful imagery exposed in this piece, it took me on the journey. ~ Rose
This blew me away–raucous like the Beats, mystifying like locomotives–powerful, powerful stuff.
I was fortunate enough to view my world from the engineer’s seat of a locomotive once. I sat and watched the world from a unique perch and ever since thought that life seductive. Wonderful work. 😉
Nothing piques the imagination more than the train…going from past, to present and future. And nothing built America as much as the freight train. I love the rhythm and structure you crafted here. Bravo!
great poem! to describe a freight train as an Iron Hide Snake- inspired! love how you used localised language to infer the working class nature of the train…and the form- how the words travelled across the page- very clever- simple subject beautifully and poetically explored
Sorry for late comment, sky. I’m glad to see you taking on American material! I read the poems as different parts of a single poem, for whatever that’s worth Reading your poem brought back memories of my childhood fascination with hoboes and wandering. Strange, since I hadn’t thought about it for years. Acoounts for my wanderlust, perhaps. Excellent work, as always.