I have always been a sucker

For deserted railway lines/tracks

Whether here in the UK

Or in the USA

Just before the pandemic

Josie and I drove across

The Texas Panhandle

Just for the experience

We both thought it would be vast

But were quickly suffocated

By the nothingness

It was not like anything

That we had ever experienced

Although we were staying in motels

(One of which thought Josie was a boy)

We did hang out in Happy Texas

(The Town Without a Frown)

It was named after a stream

By passing cowboys who were happy to find water

What took my fancy were the huge grain elevators

Standing next to the endless railroad tracks

Which stretched into infinity in both directions

I can remember walking around the town

With Josie and not seeing anybody

Nobody smiled nobody frowned nothing

A couple of people in passing cars waved to us

Possibly because we were strangers in town

Or maybe because we were identical in appearance

An odd pair (obviously visitors) in a near empty town

In all we spent about three hours there just exploring

I was hoping that a train might pass through

Just for the photographs but nothing broke the silence

The whole area made a big impression on us both

I still have a number of small jars on my study shelf

Which contain samples of the panhandle dusts

This apart from our memories was all that we retained

Joe & Josie