I rested for over an hour that day<\/p>\n
The trains were late<\/p>\n
This was due to the heat<\/p>\n
The birds in the bushes<\/p>\n
Sang in harmony<\/p>\n
Or so it seemed<\/p>\n
The state of the world<\/p>\n
Was of no concern to them<\/p>\n
An elderly couple<\/p>\n
And their five grandchildren<\/p>\n
Waited in the shade shelter<\/p>\n
And chatted to a businessman<\/p>\n
In a cool grey suit<\/p>\n
About the journey to Colchester<\/p>\n
Where they both lived<\/p>\n
The journey is getting harder<\/i><\/p>\n
They said<\/p>\n
And this heat does not help <\/i><\/p>\n
The youngest grandchild<\/p>\n
A girl of about fourteen<\/p>\n
Held her grandfather\u2019s hand<\/p>\n
Deep down she knew that he would not witness her marriage<\/p>\n
And this saddened her<\/p>\n
His brain was beginning to fade<\/p>\n
There was a frailty in his eyes<\/p>\n
Her childhood was coming to an end<\/p>\n
She would be a woman soon<\/p>\n
But he would not be there<\/p>\n
The couple’s daughter looked at her eldest child<\/p>\n
Lesley-Anne aged twenty-five<\/p>\n
She was pregnant with twins<\/p>\n
And was longing to step into the shower<\/p>\n
The day was heavy and so was she<\/p>\n
I will be back tomorrow <\/i><\/p>\n
Colchester is not that far <\/i><\/p>\n
But the railways are so complicated <\/i><\/p>\n
Please feed your father as you know how lazy he is <\/em><\/p>\n In the distance I heard the rumble of a high speed train<\/p>\n Passing through the final fields of Berkshire<\/p>\n Soon it was in view<\/p>\n And then it screamed through the summer station<\/p>\n I caught the glances of the people heading towards Exeter<\/p>\n They looked at me<\/p>\n It was unlikely that we would meet again and we accepted that<\/p>\n Peace returned and the disturbed air regained its slumber<\/p>\n Nothing stirred apart from the wings of the birds<\/p>\n As they navigated their way to and from the time striken wharf<\/p>\n The businessman in the cool grey suit<\/p>\n Had taken his leave of the family with a polite smile<\/p>\n And was sitting on a bench not far from me<\/p>\n He was working on his lap-top<\/p>\n Deadlines were pressing<\/p>\n Remove your tie man <\/i><\/p>\n Embrace the day <\/i><\/p>\n Enjoy your journey <\/i><\/p>\n I said quietly to him<\/p>\n I am translating the Rubaiyat <\/i><\/p>\n Don\u2019t you know young man?<\/i><\/p>\n That this is a mask <\/i><\/p>\n I am the Astronomer-poet of Persia <\/i><\/p>\n And with that he closed his eyes<\/p>\n The station was beginning to fill<\/p>\n Shoppers starting and shoppers returning<\/p>\n Schoolchildren free for the day<\/p>\n On the opposite platform<\/p>\n Near the wooden grey shelter<\/p>\n A man waited for his first love<\/p>\n A girl called Annie<\/p>\n They had been chatting on-line<\/p>\n And now after a number of years apart<\/p>\n She was visiting him in his Bedwyn home<\/p>\n He had been successful and his company had prospered<\/p>\n But she had flitted<\/p>\n From job to job<\/p>\n And man to man<\/p>\n He was lonely<\/p>\n Success comes at a price <\/i><\/p>\n But hey I am only thirty-seven <\/i><\/p>\n And maybe we can rekindle our former years <\/i><\/p>\n Annie had just left Hungerford<\/p>\n A pleasant town<\/p>\n She looked at the road leading up the hill<\/p>\n I wish I was in Salisbury holding his hand <\/i><\/p>\n I would never release my grip <\/i><\/p>\n We would visit the cathedral<\/i><\/p>\n And take tea in the sun<\/i><\/p>\n I would like him to cup me in his hands <\/i><\/p>\n And protect me as I am so tired <\/i><\/p>\n The train from London arrived without much ceremony<\/p>\n I had closed my eyes and when I opened them again the train was heading west<\/p>\n Towards the quiet bay<\/p>\n Near the ancient church<\/p>\n Where the driver would change ends<\/p>\n And after a mug of tea<\/p>\n Would travel towards the railway station again<\/p>\n And pick up his passengers<\/p>\n For Colchester and London<\/p>\n Newbury and Reading abd other places unkown to me<\/p>\n This was his final run of the day<\/p>\n And then home to Neasden<\/p>\n Grim grim Neasden<\/p>\n How he ached for Bedwyn pure<\/p>\n But it was not to be<\/p>\n Only Shire people lived in the Shire villages<\/p>\n And he was a Londoner through and through<\/p>\n He loosened his blue tie<\/p>\n And asked me if I was boarding the train<\/p>\n No I am waiting for the evening <\/i><\/p>\n Before I return home <\/i><\/p>\n I could almost walk it <\/i><\/p>\n But the sun is so hot <\/i><\/p>\n Thank you for your enquiry <\/i><\/p>\n And with that the train moved east and was soon out of sight<\/p>\n A pigeon settled on the fence<\/p>\n It looked at me<\/p>\n And asked quietly if I would share my loaf of bread<\/p>\n In exchange for a breath of its tranquillity<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I rested for over an hour that day The trains were late This was due to the heat The birds in the bushes Sang in harmony Or so it seemed The state of the world Was of no concern to them An elderly couple And their five grandchildren Waited in the shade shelter And chatted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}