Night Train

Night Train

My brother-in-law is a model train fanatic, so one Christmas I painted this for him. ANd he always kidded me that I needed to write a train song. I did, so the lyrics follow below.

Original ptg.: 16” x 20”
acrylic on canvas board

private collection

SILVER WHEELS

in these speechless crowded moments
with the words cold to the touch.
and the moonlight falls upon the night
as these blind eyes search the dark.
the roar of hidden power
heaves away against the bluff,
as it’s rocking, mocking, steel-on-steel
weaves a spell around his thoughts.

silver wheels
spinning through the night
stirring up these longings
in the hours before daylight.

on the ridge above the river,
a silhouette in fading light,
an old man remembers miles of track
and the work he’s left undone.
silver rail traces Big Muddy,
as it wanders out of sight.
the 10:05 was his to run,
so he meets her every night,

so he stands on the river bluff and watches
with a love that cannot be erased.
he waits for the train with this longing that remains
to go home.