For all of the natural beauty and the artificial marvels
In the end it is the people who really make the photo in the end
So much changes with the passage of time
But it is the people who imagination will bend.

A short caption, a blurb that meant little at the time
Something cool for a scrapbook of those in the shot
Becomes so much more as generations find the book
And in the style and questions are caught.

The blurb is but a brief foray into what happened
A hint at the lives of those with eyes on the camera
That is when imagination takes over and fills in the gaps
And runs remarkable lengths with unbelievable stamina.

We construct a history for the people based on their appearance
Give them the lives we expect them to have for the place
And the time where they lived
And then left, with only the photo as a trace.

The C&O continues to function as the dream of a man
And then the work of a country brought it into being
But it is those who have lived along it, who lived and died
It is their lives who make such photos worth seeing.

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