I had so much fun with yesterday's exercise, I thought I try again. The imagery of hoboes stayed with me and I thought it would be fun to write a poem using the "paradiddle-paradiddle" rhythm of moving trains. Originally, I was going to use only this rhythmic structural tool but, I enjoyed the rhymes that suggested themselves in the second stanza too much to cut them. Criticism and comments, constructive or otherwise are always welcome.

Hobo's Lullaby
By NoStar

There's a clearing near the river
That is bordered by some willows
And it's filled with scraps of cardboard
Used as temporary shelter
By the transients, bums and hoboes
Who are on their way to nowhere

The track yard's within earshot
You can hear the brakes a-screechin'
And the boxcars as they rattle
Filled with lumber, spuds, and cattle
Heading eastward to Chicago
Having loaded in Seattle

As the night falls more arrive there
Lead on by the smell of cook fires
And the hope of someone sharing
From a pot of something stewing
Then they curl up in their bedrolls
And the talk is of their travels

Hey, I heard there's work in Lodi
Don't believe it Mac, I've been there
Well, I'm kind of tired of this town
Want to find a place that's warmer
Then you're best to keep on going
A long way past San Francisco

There's a clearing near the river
That is bordered by some willows
And it's filled with scraps of cardboard
Used as temporary shelter
By the transients, bums and hoboes
Who are on their way to nowhere