A Stop in Reading

A stop in Reading,

and on the platform

the ubiquitous kissing

couple, the businessmen

praying into their mobiles,

the shopping brigades,

the school truants looking

for a day’s excitement

in their short skirts,

sequined high-top tennis

shoes, Mohawks and neoned

hair streaming, dreaming

of Covent Garden and

Chinatown, theatre lights

screened images mistaken

for reality.

On a train from London to Oxford, we stopped in Reading, and saw the people waiting on the platform opposite.

Photograph: Reading train station by Uskvale.

This poem was also featured over at Christian Poets & Writers today.