The Train. Poem by Cecilia Parkin

The train - no shove or push
Just one step up
Into a compartment of red plush,
Upholstered seats, pictures above,
Brighton, Eastbourne, exotic places
Seaside scenes, bathing belles,
Windswept hair and smiling faces.
Here and there a Highland scene
Most where we had never been.

A hiss and jerk - we were away,
'Shut the window, keep the smuts at bay'.
A toot on the whistle - we rounded the bend,
All too soon our journey's end.
The halcyn days of travel by steam
When one could just sit back and dream! .