he don’t wait for night
to hop a freight
had his ears boxed and jaw busted
a time or two
by Santa Fe brakemen,
mean as steel
“Bones heal,”
he says
“I got places to go
Tishomingo,
where I bed Betty
and drink her homemade brew”
he don’t tell her he loves her, but
neither did her Mama, she sighs
he knows what she says is true
'cause his Mama was silent too
in her grave the day he was born
Daddy taught him to jump them trains
when you can,
not all this jabber ‘bout bein’ a man
keep rollin’ on those tracks
don’t look back to be a slave
to what’s behind
train’l take you where you need to be
Tishomingo, to Betty
if it don’t, that’s all right
Betty ain’t waitin’ up at night
and the train is free