Terminus

Those were the days

everything ran on time

whistles blew, steam escaped

coming and going on the wind

electricity came in time

riveted steel, station clocks

everything ran on parallel lines

 

Platform’s crumbled, lost in grass

sleepers lie undisturbed by weight of freight

aged slow decay in terminal decline

lines stopped short

rundown rails rust and flake

return iron to the earth

a rat the only inspector