Railway Life Part Four

Railway Life Part Four

A spring time step in his walk to work,
On past the gas works, the pub and the chip shop,
A wriggle of his hips as he walks past the football pitch,
With egg and bacon for a fry-up on the shovel;

But back in the house, she sits fretting.

Her anxiety worsened, her nerves on edge,
After a twenty-year marriage
Of sleepless fatigue and shifting shifts;
Twenty years of keeping the kids quiet,
And the door knocker muffled:
The Railway Widow;

Sleepless, cold, and alone, in the double bed,
While he tip-toes across the lino,
Gently closes the front door,
And trudges off for the 2.15 link,
Shunting in the sidings,
Feeling the aches in his bones,

Hearing the rustle of the bills in his pocket,

Clutching his pools coupon.