Twenty years ago the local railway works closed down for good.
This is the end of reliable rail,
We've hit the burnished buffers
Hard against the Whitehall duffers;
Women and men stand like down signals,
Saying goodbye to their pensive pals -
Farewell to the elephantine engine shed
Where smouldering beasts will be put to bed,
Wave cheerio to the terminal delivery
Of British Rail's latest carriage livery,
And to you who sweat to bend the funnel
May you all find light at the end of the tunnel!
And what of me,
Two years on
After the works have gone?
In the ruins I shunt
From back to front,
Bearing the brunt
Of country boilers
And city spoilers -
I have this chugging notion
That madness is in 'loco' motion.
Chris Fernie, 2006
Poetry by Chris Fernie
Read 482 times
Written on 2006-11-20 at 21:04
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End of the line
We've protested to no avail,This is the end of reliable rail,
We've hit the burnished buffers
Hard against the Whitehall duffers;
Women and men stand like down signals,
Saying goodbye to their pensive pals -
Farewell to the elephantine engine shed
Where smouldering beasts will be put to bed,
Wave cheerio to the terminal delivery
Of British Rail's latest carriage livery,
And to you who sweat to bend the funnel
May you all find light at the end of the tunnel!
And what of me,
Two years on
After the works have gone?
In the ruins I shunt
From back to front,
Bearing the brunt
Of country boilers
And city spoilers -
I have this chugging notion
That madness is in 'loco' motion.
Chris Fernie, 2006
Poetry by Chris Fernie
Read 482 times
Written on 2006-11-20 at 21:04
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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