Flat pack crates, chi-town steaks, axles creak, churn, clack, slip out the station speeding from slow, chug chug go, chug chug go, train on the tracks. Cowboys clink, sink in mud, pen doors rattle-tak -- grain strikes a gong song in feed bin bongos, flat pack crates, chi-town steaks, axles creak, churn, clack. Cattle clamor, hot-iron sizzle sears backs, bovine bells long din ding-ing echo woe, chug chug go, chug chug go, train on the tracks. Whistle! wince! whine! shrill steam screech in black. Saws scream, sheer sinews and mute when bone low, flat pack crates, chi-town steaks, axles creak, churn, clack. Tannins soak slime, drip muckingly from racks, leather pulled plied stacked, meat chimes chained in rows, chug chug go, chug chug go, train on the tracks. Tumble rumble machines shake meat into sacks. Cats scratch rip tear and meow for marrow, flat pack crates, chi-town steaks, axles creak, churn, clack, chug chug go, chug chug go, train on the tracks.
This poem was published in the 2008 issue of the Eckerd College Review.
