Train Whistle Summons (Madison Elizabeth Holland

Train Whistle Summons (Madison Elizabeth Holland - Lafayette, LA)

sometimes i lay awake and listen to the train whistle as it passes in the night
it is a comforting sound
it reminds me of my childhood in Crowley
when i was ten and we lived a few blocks from the tracks
i would listen to the train whistle while i tried to fall asleep
we lived in an old two story house that probably wasn't correctly insulated
so sounds whispered through the walls easily
i have several very specific memories of this time of my life
and they resurface when i hear that mournful wail

the time i lined up all my babydolls and wrote their names in crayon on the backs of their heads
the time i spied on my babysitter when i should have been asleep and saw her smoking a cigarette in our driveway
the time mom took away my blankie because i was "too old" for it and i found it and hid it in my pillowcase for 2 years
the time i took a shower with one of my best girl friends [early gay panic]
the time i stayed up all the way till midnight on my birthday
the time we got our wiggly lil weimaraner puppy Lucy
the time i stood in the front yard and yelled at God that if he was real he needed to send me a wild bird friend [he is not real]
the time dad took me on a boy scout camping trip even though i was a girl

funny how sounds summon memories from deep in our gray matter to the present
i remember how those wood floors felt under my bare feet, what the puppy felt like in my arms, rocking my crayon-tattooed babies to sleep....

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