FULL CIRCLE

In the great days of steam
I was the toast of the town
My brand new paintwork gleamed
As people flocked from miles around
To see to touch to wave to cheer
A newborn child of engineers
And the hearts of my two thousand horses beat
To the rhythm of their tiny lives
I rolled and sped and hissed and with pride

An iron beast of burden
I tore through the veins and guts of the land
Supplying mineral wealth
Fed by a fireman’s lonely hand
With the passion of a thousand suns
My kisses scorched his bursting lungs
Like a lover’s heart my fires were stoked
By rough hands touched with tenderness
As I held him in my warm caress

I became a river supplying endless streams
To valleys and mountains red and gold and green
To fortune to fame to romance and to dreams
I was privy to their secrets and their schemes
As their lives touched me

And I fed the hungry engines of war
With the finest crop in England’s store
An ocean of tears drowned the platform roar
Through emotions never felt so deep before

I fell to the diesel age
Time and progress conquered me
Withdrawn and derelict
Nature laid cruel hands on me
She turned my once bright coat to rust
As my memory faded into dust
Some small affection I could claim
As a nest for lovebirds I became
Or a secret den for children’s games

Rescued and restored by loving hands
In my former glory I now stand
My paint gleams once more people flock again in awe
To celebrate to see to touch to talk
Of one reborn

(Gary Miller)