Love the trains
Lydia said
love the smell
me too
I said
we'd gone
to King’s Cross station
and were sitting
watching people
come out of the trains
and getting on
wonder where
they're all going?
she asked
some place nice
I said
but where?
Edinburgh
or York
or Newcastle
how do you know?
she asked
it's written
on the board
back there
I said
she gazed
as passengers passed
us by
a porter went by
pushing a trolley
a man in a bowler
stared at us
as he went by
his nose in the air
my dad works here
sometimes
Lydia said
mostly he's at Waterloo
I looked at her
she was very thin
her lank brown hair
touched the collar
of her off white blouse
she sat there
moving her thin legs
back and forward
I bet that steam train
gets hot by the time
it gets to Edinburgh
I said
bet it does
she said
a steam train made
a loud hissing noise
wish we could go
to Edinburgh
she said
bet it's good there
one day we might
I said
go see the places there
stay in a hotel
she said
have a nice room
wonder if they
have haggis everyday?
I said
and porridge
yuk don't like them
she said
I’d like Cornflakes
or Puffed Wheat
a few people ran
for the train
and then it was all
still as the guard
raised his green flag
and the train began
to hiss and puff
and steam came out
of the train
as it began
to pull away
Lydia waved at it
as it pulled away
and I sniffed
in the steam
and smell
of the train
goodbye people
she said
enjoy Scotland
we stood there
on the platform
watching the train
go off
steam bellowing out
and then it was gone
and we stood there
kind of empty
as if part of us
had gone away
we'll go to Scotland
one day
I said holding
her thin hand
but not today.
Oct 29, 2014
Oct 29, 2014 at 4:14 AM UTC
Love the trains
Lydia said
love the smell
me too
I said
we'd gone
to King’s Cross station
and were sitting
watching people
come out of the trains
and getting on
wonder where
they're all going?
she asked
some place nice
I said
but where?
Edinburgh
or York
or Newcastle
how do you know?
she asked
it's written
on the board
back there
I said
she gazed
as passengers passed
us by
a porter went by
pushing a trolley
a man in a bowler
stared at us
as he went by
his nose in the air
my dad works here
sometimes
Lydia said
mostly he's at Waterloo
I looked at her
she was very thin
her lank brown hair
touched the collar
of her off white blouse
she sat there
moving her thin legs
back and forward
I bet that steam train
gets hot by the time
it gets to Edinburgh
I said
bet it does
she said
a steam train made
a loud hissing noise
wish we could go
to Edinburgh
she said
bet it's good there
one day we might
I said
go see the places there
stay in a hotel
she said
have a nice room
wonder if they
have haggis everyday?
I said
and porridge
yuk don't like them
she said
I’d like Cornflakes
or Puffed Wheat
a few people ran
for the train
and then it was all
still as the guard
raised his green flag
and the train began
to hiss and puff
and steam came out
of the train
as it began
to pull away
Lydia waved at it
as it pulled away
and I sniffed
in the steam
and smell
of the train
goodbye people
she said
enjoy Scotland
we stood there
on the platform
watching the train
go off
steam bellowing out
and then it was gone
and we stood there
kind of empty
as if part of us
had gone away
we'll go to Scotland
one day
I said holding
her thin hand
but not today.
A BOY AND GIRL IN LONDON IN 1957.
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