He stood tall
like an old piny spruce
propped on a rocky hillside in Colorado Springs.
He stretched his limbs high towards the amber sky
while the sun rose
over a brown and dotted green mountainside.
He squinted his eyes at the fiery rays spouting flames into the
chilled night air.
The sound of the wheels ch-ch-ch-ch —
chugging along the narrow hill, while the smokestack spit
black dust of midnight back into the crisp air of dawn.
He lingered there, on the caboose
and set down his weight on this old creaky wooden crate
just for a minute
just to contemplate.
The hollers and hoots of the crew echoed across empty corridors and canyons and caves.
He let out a tired and nostalgic sigh — his breath suspended for seconds in the frothy wind.
Then — his arms hung
like heavy metal weights.
His fingertips gently grazed the grainy floor
in their relaxed state.
His entire body drooped down like half broken branches
still holding on to its trunk, holding onto life.
Thoughts meandered in his mind
the daily to-dos soon became a blur
in the backdrop of an expanding pain
which seemed to overtake his brain.
His head tilted to the side
as he gently closed his eyes
he whispered to the mountains —
“Please, just take me home.”
published 5/23/17 please ❤ !! Thank you!
