Steaming Smoke Screen

A picture and a poem by my good friend Cindy…

Steam is running so fast, going off the rails but staying on track.
The smoke which gets in the eyes, obscuring sight but not the vision.
Puffs of grey and spouts of white, smoking engines heart embers burning.
Spinning wheels, cogs rotating. Rods anchoring the wheels in motion.
In the commotion, the direction is lost. The tracks are straight. There’s no escape.
Smoke exhaustion, sleeping denied. Running on empty, steam all dried.
New recognition. Coal shovelled in and water poured from the heavens.
Mechanical engine, or living being? Locomotive heart is being driven.
The Great western, Firefly, Hawthorn, Star, Consolidation.
Run away train I can’t quite catch, sitting inside but out of reach.
Atmospheric gases, smoke inhalation. Steaming ahead, standing still.
Transparent water to steam vapour, heated coals to fuel exhausted.
Back in the yard standing alone fire extinguished. Brain still smoking.