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| First Poem on the Underground - Gerald Parker |
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Our train was delayed,
passenger taken ill at Liverpool Street;
we had to stand behind the yellow line,
said the announcement,
omitting the details we could imagine
if we wished but our faces didn’t let on;
blank looks of indifference,
or calm commuters’ courage;
it’s the way we coped as we waited,
fixed on our patchwork of thoughts;
and when the train came hurtling in,
we stayed behind the yellow line,
maybe scanned each carriage for signs
of distress, stood back as the doors opened
to let people out, then stepped on board
to sit or stand with stoical humanity,
and carry on being where we always are -
held up in a poem on the Circle Line.
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