Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BOXCAR, by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BOXCAR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I sing the boxcar rumbling and rolling afar
Last Line: To dare the ups and downs of the road with me.
Subject(s): Railroads; Wandering & Wanderers; Railways; Trains; Wanderlust; Vagabonds; Tramps; Hoboes


I SING the boxcar rumbling and rolling afar,
Rocking o'er prairies, clacking thro' populous towns,
Laboring up long grades, griding down valleys,
Marked for repairs, groaning with merchandise,
Side-tracked, bumped about, loaded, reloaded again,
Dusty and serviceable, the greatest traveler of all,
Habitat of hoboes, chalked with their marks and scrawls—

I sing the side-door Pullman, the changing vistas,
The shifting panoramas of countryside,
The waving fields, the farms, the villages.
Away with your cushioned seats, your palace cars
And the highfalutin names they wear on their sides!
Give me the boxcar, having no name at all,
Only a number—and give me a true-blue pal
To dare the ups and downs of the Road with me.





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