HAND CAR

HANDCAR

I always wanted to drive one of those
special trucks that also ride on
railroad tracks.
You don’t have to steer much, accelerate and brake is all.
I guess they use them for maintenance work.
They ride the tracks on those metal wheels that real trains have.

I’ve even thought of operating one of those
see-saw cars where you pump the handle
and it goes on the railroad tracks.
You used to see them a lot in old movies,
mostly Westerns, the see-saw carts, I mean.
I guess they come in handy
in mines and Indiana Jones
movies, not to mention
Blazing Saddles when
you’re building a railroad.

Who knew before this poem
there are societies for the
preservation of the handcar,
pump car, jigger, Kalamazoo?
Or that the cart in my pipedream
had a name or two.
We can all thank the mighty
Internet for bringing
pieces of history and fact
into my daydream.

- By Anthony Buccino
From VOICES ON THE BUS

Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved. Photos and content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.

First published in Medusa's Kitchen

SOMETIMES ON THE TRAIN

Sometimes on the train
or wherever,
when you’re reading something,
well, sometimes you don’t
want the ride to end.
Sometimes you want to hear
the chatter of strangers.
Sometimes you just want
to keep on reading
and stay in that magical
world of ink stains
that dried upon some page,
just stay there
on the train.

- By Anthony Buccino
From VOICES ON THE BUS
Copyright © 2010 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved.