18/11/2020 – Poem a Day Compilation
When I was a child
My mother didn’t own a car.
She hadn’t driven very far
Since before the day I was born.
We took trains a lot,
And buses, but mostly trains
To school and home again,
And to sport training sessions.
It wouldn’t matter the weather,
Nor the season, nor the occasion,
We would traipse up and down steps
To and from platforms and concourses.
Most staff would give us a smile
Or say hello as we passed them by
Our faces familiar to them
But nothing beyond that.
But one station master was different
He would go out of his way to help,
Stop for a chat with us both
And felt very grandfatherly to me.
Maybe it was because I was young
And all older people seemed that way
Because I’d not had a lot of experience,
With both grandfathers long since gone.
All I know is that he was nice
And a genuine kind of man
I wish I could remember his name
But it was so long ago.
When it late and dark,
He would keep an eye on us
Making sure nothing happened
And that we made our train safely.
And if the wind had a bit of bite to it
Or it was raining cats and dogs
He’d let us sit in the ticket office
By the heater so we’d stay warm.
He taught me how the indicator board worked
And how to change the destination signs
Without any notion of reward
For the kindness he bestowed on us.
Now I am grown with my own child
Who loves the railways, too.
He hopes to work for the network
And become a train driver one day.
I wish I could have introduced them
Because I’m sure with all my heart
They would have gotten on famously
But I know it’s far too late.
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