The Art of Poetry reading was held at the Hickory Museum of Art, Saturday March 8, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. Eleven poets read aloud their poems in front of the art which had been the inspiration for the writing. The presentation was seen by about 40 people who attended the event.
Before reading, I pointed out that my father had worked for the railroad as a foreman for 46 years, most of that with steam locomotives, and the railroad had been an intimate part of my life. Also it was the first place I ever worked, beginning as a laborer in 1947. My reading is reprinted here:
The Railroad Soul
The railroad’s soul screamed out at me,
shrieking through its white-hot whistle.
The conductor shouted “ALL Aboard!” and swung
on the train, the last one to leave the platform.
The locomotive belched and it roared and snorted
and white steam shot across the ramp.
Like a mighty sledge hammer hitting the ground, it
thumped and clobbered and pounded its way,
dragging its cars and the people on board,
out of the railroad station.
Later in a different part of the land
its whistle sailed out through the night. Wild!
Free! Going Somewhere! Making a brand new world!
The first time I heard it was before I was born,
and I’ve heard it every night since.
My daddy was a foreman for the railroad gang
and the trains and the workers performed for him.
He made them always run on time. And
They didn’t like his iron hand on them, insisting that
they do everything right. That’s why the railroad
shrieked and screamed! And why I still run on time.
©John Womack, 2014. All rights reserved.
