He gave the solid rail a hateful kick. From far away there came an answering tick, And then another tick He knew the code His hate had roused an engme up the road. He WIshed when he had had the track alone He had attacked it WIth a club or stone And bent some raIl wide open hke a switch So as to wreck the engine in the ditch. Too late though, now, he had hunself to thank. Its chck was risIng to a nearer clank. Here It came breasting like a horse In skirts. (He stood well back for fear of scalding squirts ) Then for a moment all there was was size Confusion and a roar that drowned the cries He raised agamst the gods in the machine. Then once again the sandbank lay serene. The traveler's eye picked up a turtle trail, Between the dotted feet a streak of tail, And followed it to where he made out vague But certain signs of buried turtle's egg, And probing with one finger not too rough, He found suspicious sand, and sure enough, The pocket of a little turtle mine. If there was one egg in it there were nine, Torpedo-like, with shell of gritty leather All packed in sand to wait the trump together. You'd better not disturb me any more,' He told the distance, 'I am armed for war. The next machine that has the power to pass Will get tbis plasm in its goggle glass. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EVERYONE KNOWS WHOM THE SAVED ENVY by JAMES GALVIN GUARDIANSHIP by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO THE MEMORY OF INEZ MILHOLLAND by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A MID-DAY DREAMER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON TO CARMEN SYLVA (QUEEN OF ROUMANIA) by EMMA LAZARUS THE ARABIAN SHAWL by KATHERINE MANSFIELD THE SONG OF THE SHEPHERDS by EDWIN MARKHAM BETRAND AND GOURGAUD TALK OVER OLD TIMES by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |