It was during my travels with Celine

That we alighted at this very station

Whilst we were here

We both witnessed a landslide

Where

Over there near where line divides

Was it spectacular

Not really

More dusty than spectacular

It is such a barren lonely station

Why were you here

Because we were meeting Celine’s brother

Out here

Yes

But then something very tragic happened

Really

A man was overcome by the hot sun

And died soon after in the station office

We helped as much as we could

But the situation was quite hopeless

I have never seen anybody die

It is not something

That I would like to experience

In theory we experienced nothing

One minute the man

Was waiting for a train

The next minute he was dead

Freddie’s train arrived shortly afterwards

We did our best

Whilst we waited for the authorities

But there was nothing we could do

It was something that he said

Which has stayed with me ever since

The girl in charge was of tender years

And was not really coping

He said quite casually given the gravity

Of what had just happened

That death was the first night

of silence without dreams