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Locomotion

by poemsgalore 

Posted: 01 June 2003
Word Count: 121
Summary: Start off slowly, and gradually speed up as you reach the end, to get the most out of this.


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Locomotion

Clock hands creep at a very slow rate
at the station full of people who wait,
peering anxiously down the line
hoping their train will arrive on time.
Checking their watches,
checking their bags,
checking the details on the name tags.

Holiday makers with buckets and spades,
cool operators in sharp suits and shades.
Mobiles jangle and shatter the nerves
of commuters travelling from the 'burbs;
Carrying laptops,
carrying 'brollies,
swerving to miss the porter's trolleys.

The distant thunder down the track
as travellers leave and then come back.
The clank of wheels as they hurtle by;
the mournful echo of the horn's cry.
Where are you going?
How long will you be?
Will you ever come back to me?






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Comments by other Members



olebut at 17:43 on 01 June 2003  Report this post
kath great you have the rhythm just right like wheels going over the track with the old jointed rail.
There is a marvellous poem which was one of the first I ever remember reading and learning although sadly off the top I cant remember who wrote it but it has a marvelous meter it is titled

'From A Railway Carrage'


Faster than fairies faster than witches
Bridges and houses hedges and ditches
and charging along like troops in a battle
all through the meadows the horses and cattle...........

if you haven't read it you should it is a marvelous poem and yours reminds me of it very much. I have been trying to write a railway poem for a while and now you have beaten me to it bother you ( he he)

take care

david


poemsgalore at 18:38 on 02 June 2003  Report this post
Yes I have read it David, have you also read "The Night Mail" I think it was by Auden. They used it on early TV as a kind of filler between programs, an interlude, like the potters wheel etc. Glad you liked it. Bet you could do it better :-)

olebut at 18:50 on 02 June 2003  Report this post
kath

I have read night mail it is also an excellant poem the other poem form my childhood was blakes Tyger tyger

it is funny but probably these two poems which have stayed with me all my life partly because I had to learn them and recite them for an elocution class ( Gawd Blimey luv yud nah I speak proper if yer could er I)

possibly worked away in my inconscious memeory and are the reason I write poetry

I doubt I could match your words but having read them I realise I was starting from the wrong point I was tryingto right a sort of steam dragon thing for children i know where I should go now thank you ( retirement)



this is the night mail crossing the border
bringing the cheque and the postal order

wonderful stuff

poemsgalore at 18:54 on 02 June 2003  Report this post
My first poem was "Someone" By Walter De La Mer, learnt it off by heart at the age of three and wrote my first poem at the age of four, all about autumn leaves - wish I still had it. Still like WD La M.

olebut at 19:08 on 02 June 2003  Report this post
I had forgotten about de la mere I cant recall which the poem of his I read as a child I hae silver and The Listener close by me as I write this

I also love The Jaberwocky , Khubla Khan The Owl and The Pussy Cat,
The tale of The Ancient Mariner and The Charge of the Light Brigade

oh what it would be to be a child again and get lost in the mystery of those special worlds

fevvers at 15:14 on 06 June 2003  Report this post
'Night Mail' was written by Auden and was part of a propagandist documentary by John Grierson (1936). It was re-visited by Tony Harrison as a Millenium poem/project (which was very cliched and dull).

The Grierson film was amazing. The poem was written after the film rushes were shot.

poemsgalore at 18:40 on 06 June 2003  Report this post
Thanks for informing me the poem was written specially for the film, it's very relevant at the moment as I saw a clip of the film on the news tonight, shame they're stopping the mail trains now.

olebut at 20:00 on 06 June 2003  Report this post
The Post office seem to be doing a major cut back they have also chopped the mail rail service in London ( a private underground railway which only ran mail it was fully automatic and had been around for at least 50 years.

This may seem a daft thing to say but the cut backs of many traditional services such as the mail trains will stiffle future poets the magic of Night Mail etc can only be written about if you can envisage or have experienced the thrill of the train clattering through the night.
s


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