Night Train

/ rothpoetry

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Reading Kym Gordon Moore’s post about the *Little Red Caboose got my nostalgia going for another train post. The painting above is one I did almost ten years ago. The photo of the painting came out a little blurry, which I thought made the painting have an almost ghostly quality. The night train roaring through the blackness is a sight to behold.

Night Train

Black smoke blends with the foggy night

Night train roars on through mist

Full moon hides from the fury of fire and smoke

Fireman shovels coal into the bottomless pit

as the fire dragon swallows and snorts

Whistle pierces the darkness at each crossing

Midnight hour draws near as the engine roars on

through coal patches,

past coke ovens

lighting up hillsides like Jack-o-lanterns

Windows rattle as the old man snores

Kids hide beneath their cozy blankets

Birds huddle close in the branches

Ground shakes as cars rumble by

River gleams just over the bank as it races

the Pennsylvania Dragon to Pittsburgh

Night Train heads into the darkness

pulling a hundred coke cars behind

Warning light twinkles like the evening star

a Red Dwarf

on the back of the little red caboose

***

Painting of the Night Train: Dwight L. Roth

*Read Kym’s poem here:

https://frombehindthepen.wordpress.com/2022/07/22/bringing-up-the-rear-%f0%9f%9a%82/#comment-18632

43 thoughts on “Night Train”

  2. Dwight, I can imagine those steel mill days in Pittsburgh as I read your poem…the glow of the coke ovens as my family drove through at night, The stories my grandfather told me about when he was a young man working in the steel mills, the old steam trains… 🙂

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    • I am so glad you took this trip back in time with me, Cheryl. It was an interesting time to say the least. The steel was made on the backs of many many workers with not always such good working conditions.

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  7. Dwight, oh my goodness I am so touched, humbled, and honored. 🙏🏼 Your poem is stupendous and I am captivated by these lines:

    as the fire dragon swallows and snorts
    Whistle pierces the darkness at each crossing

    My poetic, talented, and dear friend I am so blessed to know you and watch how you have transformed through the years with exemplary creativity, soaring to greatness. 🥰 I appreciate you more than you know! Choo choo! 🚂🤗🚂

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  11. I love this poem and your painting is the perfect compliment with its eeriness. The song Folsom Prison Blues comes to mind “I hear the train a comin’. It’s rolling round the bend”.

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