They changed history, the railroads.
They changed time, scheduling it with preciseness,
a new conciseness,
connecting towns, connecting people.
Clickety clack, clickety clack
the tracks of the Transcontinental Railway,
connecting a nation
Elation!
Refrigerated cars, carrying meat and produce
connecting farm and city,
Railway cars and urban gritty.
Clickety clack, clickety clack
Freight train
Freight train
going so fast
Salesmen selling goods and schemes
connecting consumers with products and dreams.
Clickety clack, clickety clack.
The Great Migration and Depression blues
changing where we lived, what we choose.
Clickety clack, clickety clack.
Hobos and the Scottsboro Boys,
lonesome blues, lonesome noise,
justice denied,
hop a freight—
Wait,
will we ever get back home?
No, only forward.
Don’t look back.
Don’t look back.
Clickety clack, clickety clack
The trains must run on time,
Up they climb,
to the halls of hell.
Well,
take a breath.
Come greet, Death.
Clickety clack, clickety clack
Blood on the tracks
Blood on the tracks
Auschwitz, Dachau–
we wonder how,
how?
Can we stop it now?
Freight train, freight train,
going too fast.
Not so fast, not so fast, not so fast, not so fast
Clickety clack, clickety clack
The mournful sighs
the tearful cries,
people and trains
remains
bound for glory.
You can hear the whistle
blow one hundred miles,
clickety clack, click clack
fading, fading, fading with time.
NaPoWriMo Day 6 . I used the Secret Keeper’s writing prompt, using these words
town/train/fade/hear/hall