The train is so long it stretches way back over the border
Out of unhindered conflict a train like this is quite a monster
Of ghosts we are and keeping time to a frosted clock
I’m going to bless you brother and bless you sister
You pass us and we remember you and we wave and we wave
But who has the strength to put this train back on the right track
The train sitting in the station changing the points
Would divert it to a place where peace is that place
It should be ruled as such that here is a travelling forgiveness
A border crossed and we have a border open
But the truth – the truth is heavy – the truth
Is a stone and under it children are dying in the rubble
The train sitting in the station it’s a busy one and its driver is a sad one
Who gets on are they really the fortunate ones life back but not to how it was
In the face of hope if hope seems less – hope is no less the traveller
No less the unsettled ghostly passenger and
Worth the ticket the train’s derailing for a brighter safer future

Ronald Rae