by T.C Leonard

Created on: August 24, 2009

"A Fictitious Account of the Closing of the Erie Canal"

Long, long ago on the Erie Canal,

Billy Joe Hunter was everyone's pal

He guided the mules that pulled on the boat,

And his mate on the barge kept the business afloat

They did a good job, stayed in the clear,

And were accident free for many a year

But one day ol' Billy took a great fall,

Spooked the mules and took out the aqueduct wall

The barge and the cargo went to the bottom

And blocked the canal from summer to autumn,

Backing up freight from the lake to the river-

The towns all dried up 'cause they couldn't deliver

While the waters shut down the railroad came,

Speeding up freight and changing the game

'til highways sprang up and the truckers took over-

By then Billy's grave was covered in clover

He rested beneath a gravestone that read:

"Here lies the oaf whose treacherous tread

Sent the mules from the boats to pulling a plow

When he wrecked his barge on the Erie Canal"

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