The Dying Engineer

An engineer one morning
Had kissed his wife goodbye,
The sunlight was adorning
A bright and cloudless sky.
He stopped to pick a flower
Before he left the gate,
And when he reached the tower
He found that he was late.

A gentle voice that morning
Before he went away
Breathed tender words of warning,
"Be careful, Jack, today."
He climbed into his cabin
As oft he'd done before;
A signal from the captain
Highballed old Number Four.

The steam gushed forth with power,
The wheels began to grind,
And soon the roundhouse tower
Was left and far behind.
The train began to quiver
The drivers left the rail,
And down beside the river
Poor Jack lay deathly pale.

And while he lay there dying
Upon the stony clay,
He thought of one replying,
"Be careful, Jack, today!"
"Oh tell her to remember
When she is old and gray,
I kissed her chek so tender
Before I went away."

From Scalded to Death By the Steam, Lyle.
note: Probably not describing an actual wreck. RG
RG
Apr98