I was excited to hear last month that “Note to the Midnight Train Engineer” won first prize in the 7th annual Yule Love It Lavender Farm poetry contest! This particular poem is both old and new, as it was marinating for close to 20 years. But when I heard of this contest’s theme (summer’s song), I knew this poem was a good fit, so I got back to editing, finally finishing up about one hour before the post office closed on the last day submissions were open. Deadlines will do that!