An Epitaph

It smoked and steamed.
Its whistle screamed.
It rattled and it roared.
And it drew us ever nearer.
We so longed to be on board.

It thundered down the main
In snow or stormy rain
And broke our hearts
When it reached the final chapters
of its story.
We see it and we hear it still
For it carried us to Glory. **

**[With boyhood memories of the
Rock Island RR mainline
through Walcott, IA., 1934-1936]