Lonely Land

Lonely train through a quiet place
Take your time, no need to race!
Wind whispering through the reeds
Bending to its silent needs

Along the fields made of dust
Past the towns becoming rust
Platforms devoid of people now
Nobody around to tell you how

The trains came to take them away
Children left to elsewhere play
To cities tall and full of light
Never knowing the stars at night
Nor hearing peace amongst the noise
So busy playing with their toys

Yet here I am in their wake
The slow path I choose to take
Wandering this decaying land
I hear myself and understand.

(Originally published at travelling allrite)

Commuters

Pushing ahead to get a place
Wearing a suit doesn't hide your bad grace
Smoking at the station makes you stink
Reading the Tele shows you don't think
Judgements made on the train
Tonight we'll do it all again.

Queensland invasion

I got a shock today during my train ride into work. I looked outside the window to see a QR (Queensland Railways) freight train travelling towards us in the opposite direction! I know we were going north, but not that far north. Apparently the difference between NSW's standard gauge tracks and Queensland's narrow gauge is not enough to keep the Queenslanders away. I knew that there was a valid reason for the rail gauge mess that is Australia, but it looks like the Queenslanders circumvented it by buying old Victorian Railways stock and forming QRNational. Now I am haunted by my past.