sometimes the boiler aches

in the language of a cumulative push -
steam-roars, boom, boom, boom
in the belly of the beast, crimson-teeth
rip-fire into-iron-flesh

b u b b l e s roll,
under-understood,
thunder-in down the pipe,
bellowing with hiss ...

stok'd into a viscous-rumble
s:trains-a-move-down-the-line
engine-urges-whine
up-the-track, clakity-clak
clakity-clak
in feet-of-head a head
of steam m o a n s,
presses tempest into iron-plated
bolts the size of your fist,
squeals out rigid seams as fiery mist:

truth escapes, trailing white plumes,
stack to sky, stack-to-sky,
to fall as condensate rain;
hard going tears, way down in the hole,
groaning-oh
'til the fire comes again