Last year during the Mayberry book fair I entered a quick draw writing contest for the opening of a train exhibit at the Mount Airy, NC Museum of Regional History. After looking at the exhibit and the history behind it, I came up with a poem and submitted it.

Thanks to the Mount Airy Spoken Word Society and the museum for putting together and hosting these local events.

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This rail is a lifeline, a connection, a touch
A vein of lifeblood producing so much

Like a steampunk internet making a way
Before the digital linkings we know of today

The rail wends from Elkin, Mount Airy to there
Locomotive choo-chooing with great blasts of air!

This train brings us always together
Through rain and sun and snowy weather

Do you hear the distant call?
The piercing whistle through your walls?

It calls for you to remember.

And though perception may have changed
This train is there, it's still the same.

It is an undercurrent, a backbone
A foundation solid, made of stone.

Our past and future are caught up in this.

Remember.