By Glenn Dromgoole

Abilene poet Bob Fink spoke at our church on a Wednesday night and gave us a handout – a one-page excerpt from Michael Perry’s book, Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time. Bob encouraged us to select one line from the piece that might make a good first line in a poem. 

I was attracted to this one: “The train doesn’t stop here anymore,” and the next day I composed a poem relating that line to Abilene. See what you think.

Whistling Through Abilene

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
Except on the rare occasion 
When it veers off the tracks,
Which quickly commands everyone’s attention.

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
Even though we have a railroad festival
Depicting and celebrating our heritage
As a railroad town founded in 1881.

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
Yet the railroad’s iron footprint
Still defines our city politically
North and South of the tracks.

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
But when it is rumbling through town
We enjoy the flashing yellow traffic lights
Inviting South First drivers to pick up the pace.

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
Like it did for Theodore Roosevelt 
in 1911 when four thousand admirers
Strained to catch his not quite two-minute speech.

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
Not even for a delectable chocolate
Or a glimpse of culture and tourism
Championed at the restored depot.

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
In the Future Great City of West Texas
As once proclaimed by the railroad
Whose train doesn’t stop here anymore.

The train doesn’t stop here anymore,
Abilene’s long since gotten over that
As the Storybook Capital of America
(Including a story and sculpture of a train!)

Glenn Dromgoole’s latest book is A Few Encouraging Words. He and his wife Carol own Texas Star Trading Company in downtown Abilene.