Railroad tracks along the Keystone Line
Gleamed with a copper luster under light
From the Dog Star and the solstice moon.

Those slivers of metal became more valuable
After they were squished by the weight of train cargo
And blessed by the red light of the railroad crossing.

The coins we minted weren’t trinkets
We could spend at the general store.
They didn’t belong to the government.
We created a currency for our neighborhood.

We stockpiled them in mason jars,
Traded them for boyhood commodities,
And made necklaces for our girlfriends.

I can’t say when the others cashed out.
Maybe it was the day they started earning
Bigger coin in the mines and the mills.

I walk the tracks at night, searching for the
Cents we lost beneath the splintered ties.

There is a rusty coffee can in my garage
Filled with distorted faces and Lincoln memorials.
I recognize those weathered shapes
Better than my friends’ faces

She wears my military
Issue jacket into the cold.

We stalk the empty platform.
Our breath trails behind us,
Like the smoke of a locomotive.

She wants to travel in shadows
Beneath a veil of frost.

I want to give her the diamond
My former fiancé left me.

But I would feel like a conductor
Returning a ticket stub, proclaiming
I am a passenger without my own momentum.

We trudge through the snow
And board the late train to Harrisburg.
I incinerate the love left in my heart.

One day I will wake up and
She will tell me it’s spring.

Am I friend or foe?
It seems you don't quite know,
But I would like to before I go.

shrinking into crumpled clothes
grey overtaking black hair
wire frames competing with bones
twilight's journey must end here

Why does she sit like that?
So I can't ignore the fact...
Does she really want to bare
Herself to strangers' glare?

Why does he stare like that?
So I can't ignore the fact...
He should keep his eyes in place
And leave me my own space.

When you look at me
From across the aisle,
What do you see?
A quick smile,
A blank face,
Then empty space...
I see beauty, to a degree,
And makeup and... uncertainty?
But certainly, humanity.

her sleepy eyes looked up to
the sunless sky that was flooded with
tiny cloud like droplets
that coated her fluttering dark eyelashes.
she was walking on the train tracks;
her safe haven.
she found her peace here,
knowing that the trains had
a destination, so she must too.
she was thinking,
about how she always thought
snow was too romanticized.
the tracks was her spot
and her spot only, until today.
he reached out and grabbed
her hand, knowing
she was lost in thought.
he understood her
something she thought was
near impossible.
he smiled at her, as the sun
peaked out, just in time
to warm both of them,
just as he had warmed her heart.
it was a moment of apricity
on a cold afternoon
just like he was the warmth needed
to make her heart complete.

I don't know how you feel
But I know I like to hear the trains passing
As I lie in bed

I like to think you could love me
Raw and exposed
Like I've never been before

I can dream
And fall asleep knowing you won't leave me in the night
And get on the train I love
And I'll listen as you leave

The railway is a silver line
piercing through the gloom
of this lonely place.
The night train’s slowly sliding by
shining in the moon
lighting up my face
and it makes such a lonesome sound.

The full moon is a cruel friend
beaming cold and bright on the railroad track.
The night train echoes back again
ghostly in the night,
never coming back;
and it makes such a lonesome sound.

The north wind blows into my soul
filling up the void that the night train made.
The night train is a memory
that I can’t avoid as I make my way
and it makes such a lonesome sound,
such a lonesome sound,
such a lonesome sound.