Death Train Poem by Barry Middleton

slow death is like a distant train
I see the tracks I know that it will come

and yet denial hears no sound
there is no murmur in the silent steel

but premonition on the breeze
tells me the train is not so far away

then soon I hear a plaintive moan
that I dismiss as only ghostly fear

I know the mind plays tricks on me
I can't be sure I truly heard a sound

I place my fingers on the track
to feel the force that I cannot deny

and now the shock wave moves the air
I hear the rumble of the angry wheels

and soon the sound becomes a roar
I would retreat but there is no escape