have u seen my whale

On Retribution

On the cold metal track, train breaks whined--
yellow focused in cones of steam.

Coal burned leading back to mines with birds
trapped underneath, suffocating on beast-song and black dirt
for men like you that didn't want die.
But you did
in harsh waters, choking on waves and seaweed,
or crushed by a blistering boulder from a dying mountain, 
or a cow falling from the sky and crushing you in bed.
No matter how, you made it back to the dirt.

Dirt that lay underneath the track like unspooled ribbon,
loose and dragging when the train would drive on.