Coal Train Raga
for Jay Inslee
on his reelection and his recent speech to the UN
first an oil train
longer than a mile
then
a coal train
wider than your smile
both
going north
both bringing warmth
I wish you were here baby
for my coal train blues
rumbling by
longer than a mile
first an oil train
then
a
coal train
going fast baby
pounding
the rails baby
both bringing warmth baby
I
wish you were here baby
for my Coltrane blues
lullaby baby
it’s a
lullaby baby
those
trains rumbling by
bringing some warmth baby
both
bringing warmth baby
I wish you here baby
playing your blues
those more pious living in the East
believing water springs for
their own good
demanding from us who live out
West
some sober sacrifice be made like
youth…
that we should sacrifice children to their god
to profit their buffet routing coal
trains past
our borders of common sense oil
trains too
that sometimes explode traveling
too fast…
Wyoming coal baby Dakota oil
a mile of best coal from Wyoming
stripped
on its way to China on its way to
hell
we sold our coal for a song and a
dance
at the stock exchange bell at risk
of a knell
they sold our best coal so now we've been flipped
first an oil train
longer than a mile
then a coal train
wider than your smile
both going north
both bringing warmth
I wish you were here baby
for my coal train blues
rumbling by
longer than a mile
first an oil train
then
a coal train
going fast baby
pounding the rails baby
both bringing warmth baby
I wish you were here baby
for my Coltrane blues
lullaby baby
it’s a lullaby baby
those trains rumbling by
bringing some warmth baby
both bringing warmth baby
I wish you here baby
playing your blues
copyright © Dick Russell, 2015, 2019
