Silence rings out
Along with the death of radiance,
I lay above and still
Listening to soft snores below.
As my eyes are forced shut,
A whistle cries out.
I turn myself to the noise
And look out afar.
Follansbee, I see,
Quite the scene,
Filled with industries and scenery
And of those I love.
You toot and trudge
Off to far off lands,
Yet you are dying
Much to my dismay.
You are grand and yearned for by me,
A symbol of majesty,
The essence of power,
Deserving of a more fulfilling existence here.
In the place that I call home,
Wheeling, you are no more.
In a time before mine though,
You visited my home.
The house trembled before you,
Children admired your metal exterior,
Your speed stupefied the mature,
And your existence caused the elderly to reminisce.
But because of another
Your brilliance was ripped away,
Your roots dug up,
And taken way.
However, they were the only ones to blame,
Life within the town withered away,
Leaving empty shells within their wake.
Causing your domain to rot away.
Yet here I lay
In your embrace
And taken away
By your sweet ballad.
Perhaps you will stay for years for years to come
And here I’ll be
Next to you my darling steed
Forever until the end.
Now I will rest
To dream of home
Yet to me is not complete
Without your silvery songs.
Perhaps one day
You will return to Wheeling,
Lulling others with your grace
And rejuvenating Wheeling once again.
The Romantic Wheeling Project is a multi-genre place-based learning project where 12th grade Honors English students at Wheeling Park High School used themes of British Romanticism like Natural over Artificial, Emotion over Reason, and the Quest for Forbidden Knowledge to explore their emotional connection with The Friendly City that raised them. Students were to choose one landmark, neighborhood, or place in Wheeling to inspire their open form creative writing. The student wrote short stories, poems, songs, and played with other genres to express their connections and views of Wheeling through a Romantic lens.