Hobo at heart
i remember waking in the middle of the night
during summers at the cabin
hearing the engine..blaring
a freight train was screaming right through the walls
or at least it sounded like it
it was that close..
steaming through, steaming so loud
i would sit straight up in bed
startled.
and then comforted
smiling to myself
snuggling back into my bunk
knowing the very next day
we would be walking those tracks
down by the river
collecting railroad ties
waving to the conductor
dreaming and romanticizing
about a life full of travel to far off lands
and wanderlust.
before i could even comprehend
or make sense of the feelings i felt
when i saw the trains
going down the tracks by the river
through the tall grass and flowers
i was a hobo..a transient at heart
i loved and respected and dreamed
Really loved!
the trains and those tracks
that signified hope and an escape
to i knew not where
but i breathed deep and felt relief
at the smell of iron, rust, asphalt, tar
and i’d get butterflies when i heard
the train sounds.
my arm would go up so high
and i would wave and wave
and in my mind
they really saw me
and i mattered
maybe i brightened their day cause
i know they sure did
(brighten mine)
and i still think about those trains
and the freedom they signified
takes me back to a time when my dad
was so young
And my brother and i
we were all full of life
and so connected with the earth
jumping from the bridge into the river
that ran along the tracks.
it was illegal
but it was still encouraged by dad
and he was so proud that i was the only girl
and willing to jump
i know it made him smile
and of course that was my main motivation
the only i needed
i was daddy’s girl
and a tomboy to the bone.
(hang down your head tom dooley,
hang down your head and cry,
hang down your head tom dooley
poor boy you’re bound to die…)
climbing trees, digging for worms,
salamanders and
walking in the woods
for peace of mind
smelling, taking my surroundings in
appreciating
the simple pleasures in life.
they were easily accessible to me
and i look back now and am thankful
for my early introduction to the earth
and all it had and has to offer.
trains signify freedom,
something better.
you can scatter my ashes on those tracks
in branch county
so i can forever
relive
over and over
my brother, my dad and me
and the hope and excitement
walking those tracks made us feel
in backwoods, michigan.