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Tatum's Tall Train Tales
two of my favorite story ingredients:
ghosts and ghost trains...
Ghost Train
I took a nature walk along an old abandoned trail
that once adjoined a mining camp to a nearby town by rail.
Its gold-embedded mother lode was long played out and dry,
and miners of that day since found their gold mines in the sky.
I hear a tale from time to time of all the men who died
that never made it out again once being trapped inside,
and legends of a phantom train that whistles down the track,
transporting ghosts of long-lost souls who can't quite make it back,
and lingering spirits of the lost, whom fate has left behind,
who thwart all seekers from that cave, that time has kept enshrined;
but I was scoffing inwardly at stories that conspire
to form dark images and fears, as told by a blazing fire!
I plodded on along my way, regarding it no more,
and counted this tale and the like as just a bit of lore.
The sunset lay ahead of me and I was losing light,
so I sought out to find a spot to camp out for the night.
Then suddenly, the quietness was broken by a sound;
a puffing, steaming, hissing noise vibrating from the ground!
I turned and heard a muffled noise approaching from behind,
then saw, emerge from nothingness, an old train of some kind!
A locomotive from the past, perhaps a century back;
its whistle blaring, gaining speed, smoke billowing from its stack!
the bright beam lit the track ahead and, flinging myself clear,
I felt the pounding as my heart pumped violently with fear!
The train roared by with passengers, expressionless with death;
aghast by horrid images, I couldn't catch my breath!
It faded not far down the track, I vividly recall;
and just as quickly as it came, it vanished, track and all!
From being there first hand, I learned respect for local lore.
Next time I hear a ghostly tale, I'll choose to scoff no more!
two of my favorite story ingredients:
ghosts and ghost trains...
Ghost Train
I took a nature walk along an old abandoned trail
that once adjoined a mining camp to a nearby town by rail.
Its gold-embedded mother lode was long played out and dry,
and miners of that day since found their gold mines in the sky.
I hear a tale from time to time of all the men who died
that never made it out again once being trapped inside,
and legends of a phantom train that whistles down the track,
transporting ghosts of long-lost souls who can't quite make it back,
and lingering spirits of the lost, whom fate has left behind,
who thwart all seekers from that cave, that time has kept enshrined;
but I was scoffing inwardly at stories that conspire
to form dark images and fears, as told by a blazing fire!
I plodded on along my way, regarding it no more,
and counted this tale and the like as just a bit of lore.
The sunset lay ahead of me and I was losing light,
so I sought out to find a spot to camp out for the night.
Then suddenly, the quietness was broken by a sound;
a puffing, steaming, hissing noise vibrating from the ground!
I turned and heard a muffled noise approaching from behind,
then saw, emerge from nothingness, an old train of some kind!
A locomotive from the past, perhaps a century back;
its whistle blaring, gaining speed, smoke billowing from its stack!
the bright beam lit the track ahead and, flinging myself clear,
I felt the pounding as my heart pumped violently with fear!
The train roared by with passengers, expressionless with death;
aghast by horrid images, I couldn't catch my breath!
It faded not far down the track, I vividly recall;
and just as quickly as it came, it vanished, track and all!
From being there first hand, I learned respect for local lore.
Next time I hear a ghostly tale, I'll choose to scoff no more!
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Ghost Train
Ghost Train