The Great American Train Song
by Michael Doyle

Sometimes words come out stilted
Leaving heads hung and tilted
Listening as the lonesome whistle blows
Suddenly, we're all raggedy hobos

As we wonder to ourselves where time has gone
Wasn't it just yesterday when trains rolled on
Somewhere down the tracks to places we'd guess
When the truth was we couldn't care less

Listening to the great American train song 
Was part of a childhood that doesn't belong
Not anymore, it seems, except for the country
Where lonely trains still roll for you and me

Do you remember climbing in the back of the truck
We didn't know we were just pushing our luck
Drinking out of rubber hoses and staying outside
The days of our lives were a heck of a ride

The tracks we saw stretched far and wide
We would walk along them with the radio to guide
Where we were going, though no one knew
We were Americans raised for the red, white, and blue

Listening to the great American train song 
Was part of a childhood that doesn't belong
Not anymore, it seems, except for the country
Where lonely trains still roll for you and me

Horizons come where hopeful memories coincide
We were full of youth and our world's pride
Riding streams of iron as the landscape unfurled
As we got older and the world just whirled

We have traded the trains for road trips we drive
Looking back on our youth, happy to have survived
We wink at each other without needing a word
The memories have passed us all in life's blur

Listening to the great American train song 
Was part of a childhood that doesn't belong
Not anymore, it seems, except for the country
Where lonely trains still roll for you and me

(c) March 19, 2025   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved