From the tribes to Pistol-lock
Safety switched to off
Rails change gauges
Locomotive rusts behind a fence
The Oiler crouches low
With cartridges on hand
Washes dingy mangoes
Water tank strapped low
By silver wheels
3 coins for admittance
Or 17 with dry powder
Ignition proves difficult
With the absence of a fuse
Get your basket to the platform
Before the diesel glows
The wheels stutter, shovels put away
Replaced by urgency
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from Towns and Trains, Sudden poems 2016-2018