Out on the Edge of Darkness

Chris Ellery

February 1, 2026

Oh, peace train take this country
Come take me home again

Yusuf Islam, “Peace Train”

The train we boarded in our youth

Is forced off track in the frozen north.

The engines steam and people scream,

Yet voices cold and weary sing, 

Let freedom ring! Let freedom ring!

With masks and guns the robbers came—

No trace of mercy, law, or shame—

To kill for once and all the dream.

Yet still to deadened hearts we sing,

Let freedom ring! Let freedom ring!

We rode long years in storms of strife,

Through vales of fire, o’er alps of ice.

And still we see what yet can be!

Let freedom ring! Let kindness ring!

Roll on! Roll on, Peace Train!

Chris Ellery is the author of The Big Mosque of Mercy and five other poetry collections and a member of the Fulbright Alumni Association, the Texas Institute of Letters, and the Texas Association of Creative Writers.