West Wye

Avail

sidetracked conveniently five steps from the mainline

fresh off a grain porch drinking swill

down from picking up in maine

counting change

"oh how i, i would do anything for that old junktrain to turn manifest

and highball, yeah i'd sing that railroad song by the time the sun is setting

in the west"

no time or purpose as embers smolder

holed up in pines of green

pablo writes "dos" where mouths don't share what their eyes have seen

"see those days are gone and i can't stand one more

i've fought this war counting miles alone

i've seen it all, every goddamn state

out here son it's as rough as i have known"

all i have known with sky above as home

and ground beneath as bed is to ride fast

live slow and without regret

"i've got no time for regret

those thoughts solve nothing in the end

i've got blistered hands

and lived full through rejection

long endured

'cause i came up poor

"hell no i, i wouldn't change a thing, those old junktrains all turn manifest

and highball, yeah i'll sing that railroad song by the time

the sun is setting in the west"



[words derived from conversations with "old bill", a railroad bum,

at the acca train yard on a cold, drunk december afternoon]