The Trainyard

Winter befalls the trainyard

Where engines come to retire

Icicles dangle from a signal post, mangled

Flickering bulb soon to expire

Then come the sparks and the grinding

The frictional shriek of the rail

Wheels against steel, the racket conceals

A train hopper’s agonized wail

Fallen from his boxcar

Drunken to fight the frost

A piteous mess, in mortal distress

Stinking of blood and exhaust

Hand over hand, slowly crawling

Dragging his ruptured entrails

Indifferent trains go on hauling

Chugging along down the rails

Back and forth, metal on metal

Orchestra of grinding and screams

A frozen nightmare in which nobody cares

When a man comes apart at the seams

No one speaks up, if they notice

That a life has been destroyed

That’s what enables the narrow time tables

Keeping trainyard employees employed

So ends the life of a vagrant

Crushed between rail and machine

Just-in-time shipping, frozen flesh ripping

As the engine atop him builds steam

Not for one life, nor a thousand

Will operations be compromised

Worth an iota compared to the quota,

That schedules need not be revised

Blood goes into one end, Gold comes out the other

An unceremonious trade

But gold loses some of its luster

Once you’ve seen how the sausage is made