THE TRAIN WHISTLE

As I lay in my tiny bed, in the small attic,
The train whistle sounded....so sharp....so static!!
I loved that sound, but...it soon faded away,
Gone to Vancouver, Winnipeg or Toronto, that day!
Escape! Freedom! Romance! All just dreams for me!
I'd have done anything, in those days, just to break free!!
Me! Sweet, little Margaret, whose young life was dying,
Dying in a Depression...and most had stopped trying!
If all across Canada was like Saskatchewan,
I guess the whole country was doomed...GONE!
So, I'd dream of the beach, where I could take off my shoes,
Write sad thoughts, in the sand, about my Depression "blues"!
And the waves, would wash all of my troubles away,
I'd go to faraway places, where I could laugh, dance and play!
Montreal.......so romantic! England........the Strand!
The Embankment! The Thames! A wonderful plan!
The Poet's Corner! The Abbey! Canterbury and Kent!
Quiet walks, through flowered terraces, I'd get,
Devon in Spring! Big Ben and Cathedrals, too!
So many wonderful things to do!!
Back to reality...Depression...farm...shabby home and tears!
A place, that hadn't seen a coat of paint, in years!
My poor mother making do...saving small bits of string,
Dad, on the plough, coaxing the dry land, every Spring!
Watching parched fields and dried streams, so near,
Thinking of water elsewhere, when the whistle we'd hear!
The train whistle kept calling, "Leave! Come away!
And one day I did!! What a glorious day!!
Off to Vancouver, to seek a new start,
Off to greet the promises, stored deep in my heart!
Romance! Adventure! Excitement! And just to roam,
BUT..........when I hear a train whistle.........
I'll always think, of my Saskatchewan home!!

Pauline Banning
W4-1029-98-D14

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