The Public Domain Poem by Richard Jarboe

Apparitions all over the world,
Singing a sad refrain,
A breakdown of the blues,
Kicked around in the public domain.

Hollers from the cotton field,
The dying words of a pioneer,
A song about a rattling chain,
Locked down in the public domain.

A song about the Dust Bowl,
A song about an unsinkable ship,
A song about a card game,
And dirty deal in the public domain.

Nobody knows the authors,
Ghost writers from the past,
Long gone, but the songs remain,
Buried in the public domain.

A song about outlaws in the weeds,
A song about victims and their needs,
A song bout the midnight train,
Lining track in the public domain.