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.
Jul 25, 2014
Jul 25, 2014 at 3:19 AM UTC
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.
A BOY AND GIRL IN 1950S LONDON AND A TRIP OF ADVETURE.
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