(20 minute poetry)

it kills me to hear
when the next one
gets near
think
I fear the train more
than the journey

but it carries me along
to the sound of its song
clackety clack down
a narrow gauge track
and my ticket's a single
do
I not want to come back?

I used to be monarch of all I surveyed,
a hero,

my subjects obeyed me
now
they despise me
conspire to depose me
who knows what the outcome
will be?

the eight forty three
arrives at
platform nine
running six minutes late
due to leaves
on the line.

An opportunity to work
which is more than my worth
and
for more than they pay
I could
do something
different.