The Last Ride of Old '97

The Last Ride Of Old '97

By: Tracey Criswell Wilson

This is a Pantoum poem

Joseph was the engineer of the Southern Railway named the old '97.
He took pride in being on time, but was running late one day,
With the mail on board and passengers, that numbered eleven.
He thought he'd make up time on the three-mile grade, and it'd be okay.

He took pride in being on time but was running late one day.
Even in his sleep his loving route he would always rehearse.
He thought he'd make up time on the three-mile grade, and it'd be okay.
There wasn't enough air pressure, so in vain he threw the train in reverse.

Even in his sleep his loving route he would always rehearse.
The old '97 was all he'd ever known, it was his love and his life.
There wasn't enough air pressure, so in vain he threw the train in reverse.
He couldn't believe the nightmare, as he held the throttle in strife.

The old '97 was all he'd ever known, it was his love and his life.
He knew he'd never run the mail train again, as a tear rolled down his face.
He couldn't believe the nightmare, as he held the throttle in strife.
The passengers were screaming as the train was falling, the momentum building up pace.

He knew he'd never run the mail train again, as a tear rolled down his face.
With the mail on board, and the passengers that numbered eleven.
The passengers were screaming as the train was falling, the momentum building up pace.
Joseph, was the engineer of the Southern Railway named the old '97.

(20 Lines)

This is based on a true train wreck which happened in 1897. Here is the website if you'd like to learn more about it.
http://www.blueridgeinstitute.org/ballads/old97.html

The pantoum is a form of poetry similar to a villanelle in that there are repeating lines throughout the poem. It is composed of a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next. This pattern continues for any number of stanzas, except for the final stanza, which differs in the repeating pattern. The first and third lines of the last stanza are the second and fourth of the penultimate; the first line of the poem is the last line of the final stanza, and the third line of the first stanza is the second of the final. Ideally, the meaning of lines shifts when they are repeated although the words remain exactly the same: this can be done by shifting punctuation, punning, or simply recontextualizing.