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.