The Stationmaster
There is no loneliness as dwells
In the labyrinths of a ravaged brain;
Where the Stationmaster waits
For the roar of a wayward train.
The rotted platform boards sag low,
Where tattered posters leer;
There hasn’t been a train past there
For at least a dozen years!
No soul, no sound seems stirring,
Except the wind in the dying trees;
Those grotesque, gnarled limbs seem beckoning
The thickets and the weeds.
The shattered clock upon the wall,
Infinity at four;
The muffled clank of a lantern
Dangling at the door.
The sound of a distant whistle
Along the sun parched waste;
He cups his ears to listen,
The wheels quickening their pace.
It is a train! it’s roaring!
Its engines throttled wide,
And stops at the lonely station,
No passengers inside!
Old newspapers gathering,
Chatter against a broken pane;
As the Stationmaster vanishes
Aboard the phantom train....
Page(s) 118
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