POETRY: Train Song

by Ian Dewhirst, Keighley

From the mauve heather-moors and the fields on the hills,
From the towns in the valleys, and chimneys and mills,
From the tight rows of houses in dozens and tens –
You’re a drab and a dull and a wearisome train
As you draw me away from my homeland again.

From the cobbles a-clatter with cart-wheels and hoofs,
From the high green horizons above the black roofs,
From the roads winding up by the chapels and shops
To the wide open sweep of the bold breezy tops
You’re a lost and a lonely and sorrowful train
As you draw me away from my homeland again.

From the solid old farms and the long waggling walls,
From the gushing loud becks and the streams and the falls,
From the bilberry scent of the wind on the heights,
From the mighty sky’s acres of blues and of whites –
You’re a gruff and a grim and an unhappy train
As you draw me away from my homeland again.