The Public Domain Poem by Richard Jarboe

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

A holler from the corn field,
The dying words of a pioneer,
A song about a rattling old 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 them dirty deals in the public domain.

Nobody knows who wrote it,
Must have been a ghost writer from the past,
Long gone, but the song will remain,
Side by side in the public domain.

A song about the wind in the reeds,
A song about victims and their needs,
A song bout the midnight train,
Smokin' through the public domain.