The Hoboes

"Do you have a room?" they asked.
"I really hope you do.
We walked up from the railroad tracks,
and we're frozen through and through."
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I thought, "Should I rent to them?
for their clothes are filled with grime.
What were they doing on the tracks?
It's been hours since Amtrak time."
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"We hopped a freight." he said,
"this has always been my dream.
I'm a Doctor from Seattle,
as strange as that might seem.'
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* "We rode a flatcar through the tunnel'
it was hot and smokey inside.
But cold coming down the mountain.
I don't think we'll forget that ride."
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A kind hearted conductor,
upon hearing them tell the tale,
arranged a ride home in the engine,
enhancing the romance of the rail.
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A man, who lives by the sweat of his brow
envies the professional man.
And here we have a doctor and wife,
hopping rails whenee'er they can.
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Who can explain our dissatisfaction
with the place we hold in life's scheme?
No matter how successful we are,
we're someone else in our dream.
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* The Cascade Tunnel is eight miles long,
and a flatcar is just that, a flat car with no sides or
covering to protect from the weather.