*the merciless wheel of the locomotive - Johnnie Sayre*
Dad, you'll never know
the anguish that gripped my heart
for my disobedience, when I heard
the merciless wheel of the locomotive
sink into the screaming flesh of my leg.
As they took me to Widow Morris,
I still saw in the valley the school
that I skipped to sneak onto the trains.
I prayed to live long enough to ask your forgiveness—
and then your tears, your broken words of comfort!
From the solace of that hour, I derived infinite happiness.
You were wise to carve for me:

"Ripped from the evil to come."

(Edgar Lee Masters, "Spoon River Anthology", Johnnie Sayre)
Delirium ...Johnnie Sayre (il perdono)