THE CHILD WITHIN

 

 

It was in the moonlight that I saw him,

a man younger than my father, sent on

laughter brought by the sight of the train.

 

 

He stood at attention, waving his blue and white cap,

the schoolboy inside leaping out, holding on

to another time.

 

 

With a fierce stride, he ran beside the engine

as it rumbled, black smoke filled the evening sky,

brakes sparked as it changed tracks over the murky river.

 

 

His face mirrored in the silver metal as it wheeled by,

an endless joy radiated from the glare of the railway light.

 

 

As the caboose turned the corner,

the man’s smile faded into reality,

he sunk with displeasure,

onto the rocks beneath the sole of his shoes.

 

 

Minutes later,

he headed across the oiled tracks,

underneath a gray fog,

and disappeared over the hilltop.

 

 

The child within was a working man,

saddled to responsibility,

but tomorrow he’d return,

as the whistle blew and the steel clanged

a midnight song.