Two contrails cross over Croydon
as a childish whispered kiss
a wedding party walks the aisle
of this train to London Bridge
The bride is dressed all in black
carrying a bunch of flowers
and her rich perfume fills the train
as she necks a bottle of cider
The twenty minute reception
of small talk
of drunken laughs
of the booze flowing as water
to her lips and to her heart
‘Get permission from the ticket office
to travel on this train’
sums up this queue-fat England
of intransigence and new rules
Here staff cannot show emotions
or make their own on-the-hoof decisions
The green biro’d ticket was waved on
an hour later by a shrugging millennial
Class resides on trains and in politics
those two parallel English antiquities
which feed off each other
and equally upset the low users of both
The woman serving in the galley
of processed food did so with a smile
That was my only uplifting Virgin moment
.
There’s a Samaritan’s helpline advertised on the platform
hanging from a lamp post on the sturdiest of wires
I think about the last hours of that American comedian
I picture him considering the place he will meet death
and try to uncoil his quick mind
as if such powers are really mine
It has to be such a certain thing because doubt won’t kill you
only the best of preparations
such as a strong hanging point
will see you through
Did he then worry about being found
or is that selfishness not allowed?
Is there a real risk of commuters throwing themselves under trains?
I step back from the edge as the train to London Bridge
slices through the taught cord which now gives
Each line is filled,
he is cross-referencing,
the train spotter marks
which model and when:
but his life speeds past,
one without note,
except when he’s pushed,
and then we know it:
Delays to services
due to body on the line.
The last thing he wrote
was ‘8:59’
Only for a short burst
between-stations,
this is Britain’s
remains of greatness,
which, back then, required
the re-fixing of time
(to keep up with our ingenuity);
but now, we amend our expectation
to this unfixable lateness
Picture: @RobKRead
