The Gila Monster Route

The lingering sunset across the plain

Kissed the rear end of an east-bound train,

And shone on the passing track close by

Where a dingbat sat on a rotten tie.

He was ditched by the “shack,” and cruel fate,

The “con” highballed, and the manifest freight,

Pulled out on the stem behind the mail,

And beat it east on a sanded rail.

As she pulled away in the fading night