Hi. I’ve been reading posts and comments in this community for just a little under a month, and every time I visit, I think of this piece, so I’d like to share it:

I’m looking out over my whole human family
And I’m raising my glass in a toast
Here’s to our last drink of fossil fuels
May we vow… to get off… of this… sauce…
Shoo away the swarms of commuter planes
Find that train ticket we lost
'Cause once upon a time, the line followed the river
And peeked into all the backyards
And the laundry was waving
And the graffiti was teasing us
From brick walls and bridges
We were rolling over ridges
Through valleys
Under stars
I dream of touring like Duke Ellington
In my own railroad car
I dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches
In a grand station aglow with grace
And then standing out on the platform
And feeling the air on my face

Give back the night its distant whistle
Give the darkness back its soul
Give the big oil companies the finger, finally
And relearn how to rock-n-roll

Ani DiFranco wrote the 9 minute spoken word piece, Self Evident while on tour in 2001-2002 USA. It’s about being in Manhattan during the terrorist attack on 9/11, Operation Enduring Freedom, historical context and more. This section in praise of train travel starts at 5:00.

Fun fact: Chuck D’s group, Impossebulls, covered this song.