Chances taken and refused

 

    He hated to miss work
    So he lay his head on the
    Track knowing the train
    would wake him.  If it
    Did the coroner
    Wouldn’t say -- if
    He knew, but how could

    He know (a grisly pausing
    In the reminiscence)?  Those
    Dangerous tracks when young
    Come crowding back – I could
    Have fallen from a balcony
    Or an oil derrick while standing
    On my hands.  My friends

    Took no chances and shied
    Away from all I did though
    Gone now from cancer and
    Large quantities of booze. 
    My close calls lifted my head
    From the track and drew me
    Down from my high places.