Collinwood Rail Yard Poem by Bryan Corbett

everyday after school
and somedays when I
should have been in school
I'd go hide among the trains
at the old railyard

hundreds of trains
loaded to the gills with things
things for people
people out there
in the world
happy people
that didn't live at my house…

train tracks going off in every direction
Forever
I'd wave to the trains as they left
and wish I could just jump on one
of those slow moving trains
and go away
somewhere else
somewhere other than here
just leave this sad place behind

the man in the engine
would always blow the whistle
when I waved
the man in the caboose always
turned his yellow lights
on and off
on and off
when I waved
it was our little code
between those two men
and me

and I would wonder
when they got to where
they were going to:
that other place
that happy place
that place that was
not here
were there other little boys
in other little towns
cutting class and
hiding among the trains
waiting for their return
and waving?