I've changed the last line of verse 2, added some punctuation and a three line final verse.
I can hear a sound from childhood:
A mixture of machine and animal
And recognise a steam train
Getting closer, closer, closer…
At the level crossing, paused, eager,
I turn the engine off
To hear more clearly the chuff chuff
chuff
And clank clank clank of rods.
It’s here! A great black beast vomiting
Choking clouds of smoke and cinder,
A dragon monster breathing fumes
And in between, the glints of brass and
steel.
My eyes begin to smart, I cough,
Turn off nostalgic memories
And wind the window up.
