The Devil's Loco

I live by an ancient railway track

Near the village of Nether Stonely,

Though the trains were left in the distant past,

And the ribbon of track is lonely,

The rails are rusted, covered in weeds

And lead to an old stone tunnel,

That squads of Victorian engineers

Once sealed to the height of a funnel.

 

As lads, we’d clamber up to the top

And peer through the gap left up there,

Into the pitch of the blackness, where

You could still get a whiff of sulphur.

We’d shout ‘Hello!’ there, into the dark,

And listen to hear the echo

Bounce off the curve of the soot-black walls

That seemed to be whispering ‘Loco!’

 

The legend went that a local lad

In ’93, in the winter,

Had followed his dog as it chased a hare,

They’d all been seen to go in there,

A tank, a 2.4.2 went in

To the dark of the old stone tunnel,

With sparks and smoke obscuring the view

As sulphur poured from its funnel.

 

It didn’t come out from the other side,

The boy never reappeared,

The company suddenly closed off the line

With that bevy of engineers,

The loco was written right off from the books,

They said it had gone to the knackers,

And secretive meetings were held at the docks

With directors, and all of their backers!

 

I slipped right over that wall at ten,

But nobody would believe me,

And felt my way through the darkness then

As my eyes, they thought to deceive me,

A loco, cold, and covered in rust

Stood silent there in the tunnel,

And under the front, a skeleton crushed,

As dead as the old train’s funnel!

 

On winter days when a fog or haze

Comes down, I can hear it barking,

A dog in chase of a hare, and then

The sound of a young boy laughing,

And then the rumble and chuff of a train

Drifts faintly over the meadow,

As I cover my ears to muffle the scream

And the sound of the Devil’s Loco!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

Wonderful poetry again here, giving a haunting goosebumb through your European well spelled roots, I felt taken visually and litteraly into your words, The wisdom, and yes your feelers too, paint here a masterpiece, I've got the shivers, so good you explored an tunnel, and an admosphere of the poco locos... Between the eyes of the Devil, or the Devil in...? I still wonder, that makes it perrr-fect

E. L.

[Barbara Walker]

I've never read a piece of yours that I didn't like! They are crafted so well and tell wonderful stories. You always entertain, usually make me laugh and always feel better for the experience of reading a great author!

[Shimmerbliss/CAF]

An eerie tale told so well! The rhyme chugs along like the locomotive and the story draws the reader right in. Love the title and the double play there as well. Wonderfully crafted work from a poet/storyteller who knows what he is doing!

[Tate Morgan]

i am always happy to see multifaceted reviews of some depth and character.There simply is no other quite like you .Consistently you craft tales of terror and dread .All of them unique and sublime.I should be happy if ever I told such a tale of my own that had half the wielding of one of yours.The twilight zone if it were still in production would have found you invaluable.Excellent work

[EMF]

Oh... man. There are two real Ghost stories about Trains. Dickens, The Signalman, and now this. David, you have created an instant classic. This is phenomonal.

[Marie]

This is a chilling poem indeed...three ghosts...in a dead tunnel...

[Falling Leaf.]

Another work of art. Each of your pieces is so unique. I love every last one of them.

[Patricia B. Hepler]

Excellent storyteller.The anticipation of what can happen next-and then, it does. pat

[.]

Beautiful piece, David, with a very eerie ending. I love the imagery and the structure in this piece. After reading this I could picture the boy, dog, tracks, and that devilish laugh. Great job, sir:)

-Cord