Today’spoem

THE RAILWAY STATION

Newcastle central station Was hung with bunting bright. The band played Blaydon Races, People gathered from early light. The bonnie lads were coming home From the bloody, brutal hell. ‘Lions led by donkeys’ So history would tell. The lasses wore their prettiest frocks, Mums and dads stood proudly there! The bairns had little Union flags, There was laughter and smiles to share. Parties planned and pints to drink, Newcastle held its breath. So many sons were coming home From misery and death. But there in the shadows she sat alone, Dressed head to toe

in black. Her eyes were full of silent tears. Her Tommy wasn’t coming back. She closed her eyes as the train pulled in And turned her head away. She remembered his voice and his cheeky grin. ‘Hello bonny lass!’ he’d say. She sat alone in silence As the hours drifted by. Then slowly made her lonely way home, Too numb to even cry. Ten thousand trains have come and gone Since that day so long ago, When one life was changed for ever. Who she was . . . we’ll never know.