Standard (EADGBE)
Sometimes I consider my pace,
I'm reminded of a train gathering speed,
for the climb to the pass
In whose shadow it all really lies,
a small metal wagon approaching,
the ever present ascending rise;
to the southern mountains
Reeling and snaking and leaping,
it seems like it wants to come loose,
from its path cast in iron
But she can't slow down now,
as the earth has presented,
a new crest to reach
without barely a rest;
from the last one
And you wonder just what lies beyond,
though you've been there before,
and forget about the effort and the strain
Always ascending,
each yard adds a mile,
to the never-ending pull,
of the steepening grade;
that's before you
valley, forest, desert, stream,
with an oversized bridge,
for the trickle there beneath
You remember the torrent,
it turned to last spring,
from the snows melting fast
and the river it became;
in the summer
Perhaps it is ruined,
from a fire that has scorched it,
so badly that nothing
will grow without rain
To wash away the blackened soil,
now useless till called upon again,
in a future as twisted and far away;
as the next range of mountains
So take it as far as you see
and beyond,
with eyes you don't use enough,
gather up strength
As Thoroughfare Gap,
will await you forever,
you're seeking to get there
for even before;
it's no matter;
no distance;
it's the ride