TRAIN TRACK BLUES

I've been writing poems for a long time. This one is from a new poetry book that is in the planning stages. All poems will be about trains. 


TRAIN TRACK BLUES

They’re ripping up the train tracks
A sad sight to see
The time has come, they say
And many do agree

But some people are upset for sure
They’re trying to resist
Marching, chanting
Hoping the train can still exist

We don’t need those nasty trains
We’ve got big trucks
And modern highways
The train has had its day

Reporters gather,
Watching the show
Writing frantically
About what they know

The photographers are busy
Snapping photos of the mess
Some people watch what’s going on
While others are quite invested

I saw a girl quite upset
She stood beside the tracks
A policeman ventured over
And nudged her to go back

She looked at him but didn’t move
With resistance on her face
He walked away when someone else
Became a better prey

The train rode to the station
For the very last time
The people gathered round
They formed a long, sad line

A commotion started at the front
I walked with others to observe
The same policeman bent over
The same defiant girl

But this time he couldn’t move her
She lay there on her back
He called for backup because she had
Chained herself to the track

Before long they removed her
And the crowd dispersed that day
The last train to the station
A ghost of yesterday