***
A pawl of smoke
A funereal shroud
For those who once
Worked hard and proud
No more passengers
or freight to haul
Just the muted silence
Of the graveyard
***
A peaceful rest then
For a few more weeks
Before the cutters torch
With its burning finality
Then nothing
But the greying photographs
And my ageing memories
A past put to bed
***
Poem by Martin Addison, 14/01/2012.
What a way to interpret this week’s challenge. Great one 🙂
Thanks aRVee – appreciate you dropping by. Had a listen to a couple you music selections just now – I guess that Lifehouse track is peaceful too 🙂
Yeah it is, I love Lifehouse. Thanks for the visit to my site as well. Stay blessed and have a great day! 🙂
You have a great day too 🙂
Nice words as well..
Thank You 🙂
That’s really good, a mix of poetry and photojournalism and quite sad.
Thank You Gilly – I did feel a little sad for what has gone as I was writing this morning.
The first shot is so atmospheric. Wonderful capture.
Thank you Pip 🙂
Masterpiece Shot Martin I love your story too even sad you preserve it already in your lens 🙂
Thanks Jake – When I look at these it often feels like looking at lost friends.
I invite you here Martin http://wp.me/P1Dwwo-jn
[…] Weekly Photo Challenge: Peaceful (2e0mca.wordpress.com) […]
My brother in law is an avid train person. He would love these! A peaceful end for engines that have done their duty!
Hi jfb57 – thanks for popping in 🙂 I don’t doubt he has his own set of similar photos 😉
Powerful images – at first glance, the antitheses to the title. Great contrast!
Thank you – I like to try to come up with something a bit ‘left field’ if the opportunity presents itself 😉
I like the first picture the best. It is an eerie type of peacefulness you have captured. Something still which should be in motion.
Thanks Isobel – It’s a sad demise at the end of a working life.
Interesting take on the subject 🙂
Thanks Miles – I try to find a different angle 😉
[…] Weekly Photo Challenge: Peaceful (2e0mca.wordpress.com) […]
What wonderfully creative entries to the ‘peaceful’ challenge, sir!
Very powerful imagery, too… you’ve really captured the passage of time…
and a true sense of history / the ephemeral….
Love these, Martin!
🙂
Thank You Bob – I might Grasp ephemeral if you ever let it go! 😉
R.I.P. 08357.
Thanks, Martin.
Thanks Nancy 🙂
I wish some of those trains could go to a museum.
Hi NN – I’m pleased to report that some members of each of the classes shown in the photos have been preserved and can be enjoyed by future generations. Some class 08’s remain in daily service on our rail network. 🙂
Very creative entry Martin! I like it. Beautiful photos!
Thanks Theresa 🙂
fabulous take in the theme if a little sad
Thanks Jo – I do get a bit maudlin over old trains 😉
[…] Weekly Photo Challenge: Peaceful (2e0mca.wordpress.com) […]
Now, that’s a real curveball you’ve thrown, Martin! The first picture actually looks like a scene from a disaster movie until I got to your poem. It challenged me to think about the word peaceful looking at that photo for a couple of seconds. Brilliant stuff!
Thank you COR – I do like to bowl a googly from time to time, to express it in Cricket parlance 🙂 I can remember that works visit quite well – it was quiet out there among the dead locos, apart from the occasional crackle from the fire.
Very impressive (both poem and picture). At first I thought the pictured depicted the aftermath of a crash, but your poem described the scenario perfectly. Well done.
Thank You – I have heard that the immediate moments following an accident are very quiet, though I suspect that is in relative terms to the noise of the accident itself. You’re not the first person to initially feel that this was the aftermath of a disaster 🙂
I had to look several times to “get” peaceful, but the more I looked and read the poem I can understand the great angle you have taken for Peaceful.
Thank you for the pingback 🙂
Thanks Ronnie – I do like to bowl the odd googly as mentioned above 🙂
they have uttered their last chuff hope thats not rude lol i used to watch the steam trains from my grans window she lived right next to darlington station so it was a real treat except the smoke usedto ruin her washing but loved the noise great post xxjen
Hi Jen – nice to hear from you. Sounds like a train spotters ideal 🙂
Peace within a train rubble…almost feels like a chill to the soul followed by the peace.
Creative entry! Love it!
Thanks – it was always sad to see the engines at the end of their days. Sometimes there would be ones that held special memories from past trips.
This is a very clever entry. A barren place is peaceful indeed!
Thank you Sony 🙂
In a way it saddens me that the end is near for this facility .So much memories, so much stories, so much roads travelled …but then it will be followed by peace, a peace that all of us yearned to have. Wonderful photos my friend.Thanks for today’s wonderful inspiration.
Thank You for passing by – hopefully I’ll have something more cheerful for the next challenge.
Greetings Frizz 🙂
Fabulous, very moving words and pictures. Ghost trains indeed but obviously leaving behind special memories.
Thanks Patti – yes, memories indeed 🙂
[…] Weekly Photo Challenge: Peaceful (2e0mca.wordpress.com) […]
Nice take on the theme, Martin! I was trying to figure out initially where “peaceful” is on the first picture ‘coz I thought it was a train crash or something. But then I got your point after reading your poem, and seeing your other picture. Excellent!!!!
Thank you Nelson – I was trying to find the edge a bit 😉 If it got people thinking beyond the obvious then I achieved my aim 🙂
The 1st one has a kinda eerie feel so it. Fantastic photos as they really suit the poem well. Great poem too Martin.
Thank you so much Tony – I write what I feel and it doesn’t always rhyme but hopefully I got across my sense of loss at these old stagers going to the torch. It often feels like the loss of an old friend for me.
Not my sense of peace (steel, smoke, machines, etc) but awesome pictures! Thanks for the share 🙂
Thanks for popping by… We all find peace in different places and ways don’t we 🙂
Wow, this was so unexpected but aboslutely beautiful. And I love the poem too! 🙂
Thanks Cafe23 – I knew what photos I wanted to use – then I wrote the poem to underline the connection to the challenge 🙂
Your words are very close to heart
Thank you for sharing
Thank you – it’s how these scenes affect me 🙂 I have written from the heart!
Wow. The poem fits perfectly with the photographs. Did you write it? If so, kudos on a job well done.
Hi Orples – yes, I wrote the poem (but forgot to put the usual disclaimer at the bottom!), so thank you for your kind comment 🙂
Authorship now added 😉
I think these trains suffered a worse demise than the ones in my Granite Way post!
Possibly Gilly – I feel the death of machines, but many other people don’t. To me they have a soul – possibly grown out of the people who built them. I’ll have to read your post on the subject 🙂
I agree with you and get very attached to my cars. My post is only a couple of photos!
I have a post in the draft area called The Soul Of The Machine… I’ll be posting it soon 🙂
Love the way you give dignity to these heroes that changed the world. It’s refreshing to see and read. Great poetry. Will visit again!
Thank you Alexandria 🙂
fantastic very talented in poetry sorry i havent been round for a while xxjen
Thanks Jen – I hope you are well and that Ozzy is being a great companion 🙂
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