Train Talk

The low, long rumble tells us
it's a freight train lumbering
down the tracks through the woods
at the end of the road.

The short, light whizzing
informs us it's the
passenger rail.

But it's the stand-still box cars
with their graffiti-littered
panels painted in neon colors;
flashy art; and stylized,
hard-to-read words,
that scream for attention.

Parked for hours, and
sometimes days, on the
side-by-side rails,
passing trains wail at
their stationary
presence.

With two short blasts and
a long urgent bawl they
give warning to people and
animals alike ...

Wa. Wa. Waaaa!!!
Coming through.