Limited from Chicago Poems (1916)
~by Carl Sandburg
I am riding on a limited express, one of the crack trains
of the nation.
Hurtling across the prairie into blue haze and dark air
go fifteen all-steel coaches holding a thousand people.
(All the coaches shall be scrap and rust and all the men
and women laughing in the diners and sleepers shall
pass to ashes.)
I ask a man in the smoker where he is going and he
answers: "Omaha."
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crack - adjective
INFORMAL. excelling in skill or performance; first-rate: a crack shot, crack troops
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This is another of the photographs taken by my uncle, James H. Swearingen, in 1923 on the "family transcontinental trip by auto." Please come back for an upcoming post featuring a Fourth of July piece from Uncle Jim's memories recorded on tape in 1982.
He sure was something special and I'm grateful I had more than a few opportunities to spend time with him before he passed to ashes . . .
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Carl Sandburg was a favorite growing up- when the rule in class was memorizing 1 poem a week, (to recite in class) I struggled to save the mimeographed collection/notebook of poems, handed out. I managed to keep Louis Untermeyer's book " A Singing World" , which was our text in 2nd grade English...
ReplyDeleteThe train photo is marvelous- recently I have become fascinated again, with the world of 'engines'.A tough subject in a way, because they do not classify
trains by 'makers',(ford/chevy) like cars! Thanks.
Your Uncle Jim had an amazing eye. There is something very poignant about the photo. I think it is the distance he kept from the train---that really evokes longing and distance and missing. Really beautiful.
ReplyDeleteizzy~ Fascinating comment! You were fortunate to attend a school with the one a week memorization rule. "A Singing World".....I'll Google that one, and you keep your copy safely tucked away!
ReplyDeleteNever thought of train engines as not having/having names as cars. :)
La Belette Rouge~ I agree with you about his photographic eye and sense of perspective. It's as if he had a sense that he was capturing a very fleeting time. He went on to be a successful interior decorator for major California department stores, and then he and his wife continued in design while owning a fine furniture store in Mill Valley, CA.
Lovely old photo... and made me think of ...
ReplyDelete"Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders, three conductors and 25 sacks of mail..."
Owen~ Ah! Now you have me humming the song to myself... :)
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since I have partaken of Sandburg. And the photo is perfect. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteErin~ I hadn't thought to read any Sandburg for a long time. Looong time! This was a goodie, and my uncle's photo is special indeed.
ReplyDelete