Attempted Train Epic 2

.2:19 pm 80 cars

This time, he said,
I'll do it upside down
This time, I'll have twice as much
I'll put one on every corner
It'll go out bulk-rate postage-paid
There'll be a New York Times review
I'll buy a big red truck and
drive it all over town
I'll nail 2 x 4's to it and
give it a nice, shiny handle
It'll be made out of recycled parts
imported from a deep jungle
You'll see it on page 34 of the
Sunday advertising supplement
It'll have interchangeable parts
and multiple meanings
You'll see it hovering in the sky
on fat slabs of hot air
It'll come with a rebate coupon
and a customer survey questionnaire
It'll be stapled on to the tail end
of something revolutionary

And when it was exposed
the curtain pulled the public saw
it exceeded expectations
There was an uproar
A gang of hoodlums tried to steal it away
A committee was formed to ascertain
which state would take control
Lines were formed and drawn
Maps were annotated and revised
A cheese was named after it
Busloads of schoolchildren went
to look at it and write reports
in composition books on what they'd seen
Helicopters circled it and lights
were applied from every angle
It was invited to interviews
Televised skits were scripted
It was analyzed by experts and
its secretions were collected
Photographs were covertly taken
Authorities sketched blueprints
Samples were sent to secret labs
A shrine was built around its shadow
It's outer layer was removed and reapplied
Fascimiles were replicated and mass-produced
Translations were attempted
A song was written in honor
Housewives collected news clips
It was uploaded and downloaded
Another cheese was named after it
Documentaries were produced and
it inspired further speculation
It became popular to Google it
Tour buses brought people to it
It was it was it was
and then
it wasn't

Decay soon set in
Forgeries replaced it
Critics criticized and lies were invented
It was parodied and plagiarized
It was synthesized and hybridized
A generic cheese was wrapped with its label
Rights were sold and bartered and buried
A space was cleared for it in the attic
It was set out in the rain
When at last
all had forgotten
and it had become a footnote,
a child found a dog
playing with it
and they played together
tossed it about and laughed
They forgot about ti
then remembered
then forgot again
This time, he said,
I'll do it right side up