I sat on the front doorstep
with Lydia
of her parents' flat
on the ground floor
looking onto the Square

she had her thin chin
in the palms
of her small hands

her mother's words
still hanging in the air
from moments before

Paddington Railway Station?
you want to go all that way
to see a ****** train station?

yes
Lydia said
we want to see the trains
that go to Scotland

her mother stared at us
as if we started speaking
in a foreign tongue

it isn't Paddington
it's King Cross train station
she said

is it?
I said

yes it is
she said
I should know
her dad goes there
now and then
but not often enough

can we go there?
Lydia asked

what for?
her mother said
all that way
just to see trains to Scotland?

yes
we said jointly

and how are you going
to get there
walk?
she said

go by bus or train
I said

have you the money?
because I sure haven't
she said

or underground train
I said
be quicker

have you the money then?
her mother asked

I stared at her hair
pinned in curlers
red lips
arms folded
cigarette in between
her fingers

I can get some
from my old man
he'll give me some
I said

if you can get the money
Lydia's mother said
you can go
but don't be late home
or I’ll slap your backside
my girl

and she went in
and slammed the door

I looked at Lydia beside me
well are we going?

will your dad give you
the money?

I've got some
in the blue
metal money box
he made me
I said

enough to go
to Kings Cross station?

should have

wish we had enough
to go to Scotland
she said

maybe one day
I said smiling

she looked at me
let's go then
she said

so we got off
the front doorstep
and made out way
across the Square
leaving her mother's
words behind
smelling adventure
in the air.