My Grand Mama and her sons: 1918 Pandemic

They weren't mama's boys; mama died before they walked.
Karl and Ralph were shipped to Oklahoma before they talked.
They saw their old dog Ben chasing the train
before he finally disappeared in the downpour rain.
But Karl and Ralph were tough as hail in a storm
and learned to dig, plant and chop on a cousin's farm
before they grew to 5 & 6 and jumped the midnight train
in pouring rain to search and find a way back to Ben.

Tossed from the train and cussed in hail and rain
they walked, slept and begged their way back again
to find the old farmstead and their dog named Ben.
They slept at night in cursed cold with a simple jacket
until they woke one morning to a hell of a racket
as the old dog licked and turned, barked and growled
and roused them from their sleep with a lonesome cry.
These were mama's boys who walked and learned to howl.