Shimmers molten road
Still air squats, beads, on my brow
Summer road trip woes.

Seat turns to quick sand
Thighs stuck fast can move no more
Summer road trip woes.

Each breath sighs, heavy
Vapoured water chokes the air
Summer road trip woes.

No soul seen for miles
Gauge collapses on empty
Woeful road trip end.

Clacks the train on pre-made track
Taps she on and on all day
Wheel on rail, turns wheel on rail
Never wavering from laid out trail.

Clacks the train on pre-made track
Oft taking souls both to and fro
Alas unseen goes the weary rail
As metal cuts through the nestled nail.

Clacks the train on pre-made track
The unjoining joint harked too late
Souls on board feel blinding pain
As loco veers off its destined lane.

Clacks she no more on pre-made track
Unhinged, undone, has no path, no role
Bent beyond all blacksmith skill
Now left soulless, without way or will.

They waited in silence,
No questions they asked.
No demand to be noticed,
Though deadline neared fast.

They sat in quiet patience,
At attention they snoozed.
Hoping time would tick on,
When perchance they'll be used.

There are those who oft pray,
For these precious pearls rare.
Yet others throw reckless,
Lay 'em to waste with no care.

So when completing an essay,
With goals succinctly met,
Muse on this ode to the few,
Unused words of word limit.

The wind speaks in warnings
Passed fast from leaf to leaf.
The rustle of the undergrow
Stirs firm in disbelief.
Pitters and patters scatter
The fallen pain.
The last acorn of the season
Falls,
A final act of treason.
A beacon among the coming rain.