Quercus robur ribs hold water dark
Salix alba bends to wake the spark
Steam hisses white through Taxus crown
Iron roots grow deep in rusted ground
Rowboat rocks on oil-slick tide
Wheels scream past where moss has dried
Two quiet shapes in mist aligned
Iron root and wood entwined
Coupling pins lock cold as bone
Steel wheels grind on ancient stone
Boxcar shadows stretch on creosote ties
Signal lamps burn red through hazy skies
Rowboat rocks on oil-slick tide
Wheels scream past where moss has dried
Two quiet shapes in mist aligned
Iron root and wood entwined
Pinus sylvestris needles catch the soot
Ferns unfurl where brake shoes beat the root
Cinders settle on the gunwale curve
Nature claims what industry won't serve
Rowboat rocks on oil-slick tide
Wheels scream past where moss has dried
Two quiet shapes in mist aligned
Iron root and wood entwined
Manifest rolls thunder through the reeds
Carbon dust coats polymorphic seeds
Timetable means nothing to the tide
Rusted rails bloom where the hull resides
Fog lifts slow from water and from rail
No schedule kept for root or for sail
Just rust and cellulose in quiet pact
Two silhouettes where light is never trapped
Quercus robur drinks the morning dew
Coupling pins rust through and through
Salix alba weeps on gravel bed
Locomotive rests its iron head
Rowboat rocks on oil-slick tide
Wheels scream past where moss has dried
Two quiet shapes in mist aligned
Iron root and wood entwined
Iron root and wood entwined
Bass walks low through fogged steel ribs
Driftwood stays where tracks begin
