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The Underground Train,
Strange as it seems,
Carried many passengers
And never was seen
It wasn’t made of wood,
It wasn’t made of steel;
A man-made train that
Ran without wheels.
The train was known
By many a name.
But the greatest of all
Was “The Freedom Train”
The Quakers, the Indians,
Gentiles and Jews,
Were some of the people
Who made up the crews.
Free Blacks and Christians
And Atheists, too,
Were the rest of the people
Who made up the crews.
Conductors and agents
Led the way at night,
Guiding the train
By the North Star Light.
The passengers were
The fugitive slaves
Running from slavery
And its evil ways.
Running from the whip
And the overseer,
From the slave block
And the Auctioneer.
They didn’t want their masters
To catch them again,
So men dressed as women
And the women dressed as men.
They hid in churches,
Cellars and barns,
Waiting to hear the
Train’s alarm.
Sleeping by day,
And traveling by night,
Was the best way they knew
To keep out of sight.
The waded in the waters
To hide their scent,
To fool those bloodhounds
The the slavemasters sent.
They spoke in riddles
And sang in codes,
To understand the message,
You had to be told.
Those who knew the secret
Never did tell
The sacred message
Of the “Freedom Train’s” bell.
Riding this train
Broke the laws of the land,
But the laws of God
Are higher than man’s.
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