A Train in the Sky
All the stores are now empty. The people are gone,
There's no creature in sight. There's no bird. There's no fawn.
And the towering buildings, once mighty and strong,
Have now crumbled and fallen to ground they belong.
There is ash. So much ash covering every place,
I can breathe, but not well, and from cloth-covered face.
We have called it the "Baptism," cleansing of all.
I just barely survived it by hugging a wall.
In the blink of an eye, all our worldly possessions,
Now mountains of soot that depicted obsessions.
The people and places and things we held dear.
Had all vanished in dust. There was panic and fear.
With no water or food, we did all that we could.
But the filthy can't clean both the bad and the good.
On one day, there was respite. Some much needed rain.
Along with it, familiar bells from the train.
Very soon, a crowd gathered all watching along.
Then from deep in the cabin, some music. A song.
The conductor appeared to be clad in bright white.
He was young. He was clean. A spectacular sight.
He said, "People. Please listen. There's food for us all!
Form a line. Wait your turn. Please don't slip and don't fall!"
So we ate and found shelter. This man was our savior!
Yet somehow I noticed odd quirks and behavior.
He gave us no name and no place he belonged.
He "Just wanted to help both the righteous and wronged."
He would talk of his people. His god and his friends –
All of them were like us and with untimely ends.
At the end of our meal, he just wrapped up and said,
"If you come with me now, you'll be clothed and then fed."
With those words, about half of us unclean had left.
All the rest of us mourning. Still lost and bereft.
Every day, the man came with more stories to tell,
And each day, the train took a few more with it's bell.
I was soon left alone in my city of soot,
Simply wandering streets and old alleys by foot.
All my memories, dreams, and the ghosts in this place.
Were now haunting me, shouting to pick up the pace.
To run fast. To run hard. To run far, far away.
My old city was lost with no reason to stay.
The next day, I sat down on a seat of bright red,
And while anxiously waiting, the young man then said,
"This is it. Your last chance. Are you going to stay?"
I responded, "No, No. I'll go with you this day."
I then watched the doors shut with the lids of my eyes.
Drifting off from my nightmare and into the skies.