"Tom Gray's Dream", also known as "The Hell-Bound Train"[1] is a poem written by western Illinois poet Retta M. Brown (born September 18, 1893).
The engine with blood was red and damp, And brilliantly lit by a brimstone lamp; While the imp for fuel were shoveling bones, The furnace rang with a thousand groans.
The Devil himself was the engineer The boiler was filled with lager beer; The passengers made such a motley crew- Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew.
Why You've bullied the weak, and robbed the poor, And a starving brother you've turned from your door; You've laid up gold where the canker rusts, And given free vent to your fleshly lusts;
Justice you've scorned and corruption you've sown, While you've trampled the laws of nature down; You've drunken and rioted, murdered and lied, And mocked at God in your hell-born pride.