Black Train

The thoughts are there, but the spark is gone. The lust for Graveyard romantics no longer filling my mind. The quiet hush of the midnight train filling my ears. An echo of passing trees whispering in the wind. The soft clatter of the rail-cars led along by a metal baphometh. And I? Trapped inside its innards. Swallowed whole by the gluttonous beast; held for now, to later emerge from its vile grip.

Time passed slowly. The strong aroma of booze and smoke penetrating my lungs. And she's in my mind. Filling every crevice, every thought of my soul. Her call alluring, for I know what my secret tells. Soft caresses upon my neck and skin. A roadway marked from past sin. It tells of a broken past, but I am being led to new beginnings.

It is cold. The bitter nip of Jack frost creeping. Not yet winter, but far past the sunny days of summer's past. The trees have shed their leaves but are not quite bare.

The howl of the whistle escapes, blasting from the hollow lungs of the black train. More passengers board, but there is something off about them.

The stops are becoming less and less. My memory escapes me. Where was I headed exactly? One moment, standing by her bed, the next being whisked away by the looming presence of darkness. And then? I awoke aboard this hunk of scrap. Dazed, but ever alert.

The landscape is curious. Nothing I have seen, and far past the pastures of Kansas. And her cries. Why was she crying? I shall see her soon! I was just heading to the cemetery, one last time. Roses shed upon her grave like clockwork, never missing a beat.

Her face is still pressed deep inside my mind. The soft hue of blue. I always joked I could see the ocean if I looked hard enough. And she'd laugh; tell me not to fall in! She always had a way with words, but like so many before her, she was stolen away too young.

My eyes are weak. The pressing note of a flute floating through the ear. The hint of jasmine. I'll just get a wink of sleep...Just a- and then, I was no more.