The Train is coming
I shouted
the train is coming
a toddler on his first trip
to London
beyond reason on a rainy day
the doors whispered
and we were on our way
we chatted and pointed
and imagined ghosties in the dark
but my parent’s inabilities
were becoming clear
as we bumped along the track
and when the little train stopped for breath
I came up for air
in Kentish Town
alone and inexact
my parents
two hundred feet below
lost in the puzzle of the map
I cried
as though
my heart were broken
Gareth Writer-Davies was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and the Erbacce Prize in 2014, Highly Commended, Geoff Stevens Memorial Prize in 2012 and 2013. His pamphlet Bodies, was published this year and is now available through Indigo Dreams.