Dawn Over the Yard
(cold
breath out)
Five in the morning,
frost on the rail Thermos of black coffee,
skin running pale Signed on the board by the yard office door
Manifest folded, forty cars or maybe more
Boots crunch the gravel,
lantern swings low Waiting on the air brake test before we go
Check the couplings,
tap the steel
Feel that iron waking
under the wheel
Throttle clicks up one notch at a time
Leaving the switchyard
behind the yard line
Highball out rolling on the mainline track Sun breaking red across the
engine's back Nothing out ahead but the tie
and the beam
Just rolling that diesel
and rolling off steam
We’re punchin' the time until dusk comes down
Another long day out of town
Past the grain elevators sleeping in row
Watching the mile markers steady and slow
Radio crackles with dispatch's call
Clear block ahead through the timber and all
Sweat on the collar,
steel in the hands
Dragging this payload across open lands
Highball out rolling on the mainline track Sun breaking red across the
engine's back Nothing out ahead but the tie
and the beam
Just rolling that diesel
and rolling off steam
We’re punchin' the time until dusk comes down
Another long day out of town
Hours bleed into the heat of the day
No place to run and no words to say
You settle on in to the sway of the cab
Taking the good with the grinding and drab
Highball out rolling on the mainline track
Sun sinking purple along our back Nothing out ahead but the tie
and the beam
Just rolling that diesel
and rolling off steam
We’re punchin' the time till the shadows get long
Singing that ironclad song
(rolling, yeah)
Headlights cutting through the twilight gray
That's sixteen hours on the rails today
Tie her down in the yard...
Good night, iron