Tag Archives: trains

A Cinquain for a Train by James Aitchison

Leave a comment

railcars

silvery sleek

rattling, clicking, clacking

my very special adventure

outback

The Savannahlander train crossing a creek, North Queensland. Photo by Ginette Pestana

Teacher’s note: A cinquain is an unrhymed five-line poem that has a 2-4-6-8-2 syllable count.
Line 1: a one-word noun (the subject of the poem)
Line 2: two adjectives that describe Line 1
Line 3: a three-word verbal phrase that further describes Line 1
Line 4: a four-word phrase that shows a feeling toward Line 1
Line: a one-word noun synonymous with or related to Line 1
Writing cinquains is great fun for students.
(Note: “special” is a two-syllable word!)

All Aboard? No Thanks! by James Aitchison

Leave a comment

Stop the train,

I want to get off —

that bridge looks a disaster!

It happened when

they had a flood

and the river ran much faster.

It twisted the rails,

it bent the bridge —

any train would roll and sway.

So until it’s fixed,

until it’s safe,

no more trains will pass this way! 

Rail bridge at Einasleigh, Gulf Country, North Queensland. Photo by Ginette Pestana

The Fast Train by James Aitchison

Leave a comment

We’re on the train to Paris

and we’re going really fast!

I can see the needle climb,

as the scenery flashes past.

The ride is very smooth;

not a rattle, bump or shake.

It’s like the magic carpet

that Aladdin used to take.

We’ve almost reached three hundred

kilometres an hour;

there’s no train in Australia

that has this kind of power.

Teacher’s note: The distance from Bordeaux to Paris is around 500 kilometres.  The fast train, leaving Bordeaux at 5.04 pm, arrives in Paris at 7.08 pm.

What Am I? by James Aitchison

Leave a comment

Am I a cathedral —

or something finer?

Maybe a palace,

or an ocean liner?

Am I a museum,

studded with gold?

A famous art gallery

with pictures old?

The fact is, I’m nothing

much of a sensation.

I’m just the local

railway station!

(Teacher’s note: Kecskemet —pronounced KETCH-kem-ayt — is the eighth largest city in Hungary. It is located at the north of the Hungarian South Great Plain. In January, temperatures drop below zero; in July they average 22 degrees Celsius. The famous composer Zoltan Kodaly was born here. In the years under Communist rule, many public places such as railway stations were decorated to inspire awe and express the power of the State.)

No More Trains by James Aitchison

3 Comments

Silent silo, 

commerce fails,

no more trains,

rusting rails.

Rain and wind

sweep platforms clean,

railway ghosts 

go unseen.

Teacher’s note: South Australia’s Burra railway station was a busy stop on the main line to Broken Hill and Perth.Passenger services  ceased in December 1986, and the last grain trains operated in 1999.  Volunteers have lovingly restored the station buildings. 

What’s Outside My Train Window? by James Aitchison

Leave a comment

I’m on the Harry Potter train,

in the highlands bold and bleak,

racing through a Scottish glen,

where mist clings to every peak.

The soul of Scotland calls to me

whichever way I look,

from wind-rushed heather on the hill

to every stony brook.

Teacher’s note: The Jacobite steam train, used as the Hogworts Express in the Harry Potter movies, runs between Fort William and Mallaig.  This 84-mile round trip is regarded as one of the world’s epic rail journeys.

Poem of the Day

3 Comments

Time Travel

 

The train left the station-

clickerty clack

the wheels gained motion-

clickerty clack

we then passed paddocks

of bones and dust

broken tractors, covered in rust

The train didn’t notice-

clickerty clack

but we did, with the notion

 

The train rambled on- clickerty clack

I nodded off- clickerty clack

And dreamt of the life

centuries before

of ladies’ long dresses

dusting the floor

The train didn’t notice-

clickerty clack

and my bonnet, shielded mine eyes

 

The train pulled into the station

C . L . I . C . K . E . R . T . Y

I woke with a jolt

 

I grabbed my laptop

and mobile phone

that enables connection

while travellers roam

The train didn’t notice, clickerty clack

on its timeline, to the future

Julie Cahill

It was serendipity when Julie’s poem happened to turn up in my in box ahead of my ‘Travelling’ poetry prompt. It also slots in nicely with an earlier prompt.

 

Poem of the Day

Leave a comment

Train Lines

by Monty Edwards

 

If you dearly want to gain

A skill

Allow me to explain

The drill

You really have to train

Until

You can do it again

And again

At will.

 

  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #13

PoetryPrompt13

Author comment: I thought I’d try to work with the keyword as a verb. I seemed to be on the way to some rare (for me) free verse, but the rhyming possibilities took over, resulting in perhaps my shortest ever poem.

Poem of the Day

4 Comments

THE TRAIN   

by Anne Bell

Past houses,trees and grazing sheep,

I race and rock and sway

and I say to the track of strong, firm steel

that likes the sound of a hurrying wheel,

I’ll soon be back,

be back,

be back.

  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #13.

PoetryPrompt13

Author comment:  Goodness gracious me…this was first published in The School Magaz Circa Yonks AD when that journal was edited by Lilith Norman and still in black and white mode.