Woman on a train
Two minutes out of Victoria on the fast train
I'm worrying about seatbelts
how I could be thrown onto the woman opposite
cracking my head against hers
or puncturing my face
on the comers of her open hardback book
but now I notice her breasts
packed in pink vertical frills
the paisley drawstring skirt
rumpling in waves over plump knees
her curly hair the colour of hazelnuts, her milky skin
which brings me back to her breasts
which are generous, pendulous
and she has two bags
a lacquered rattan box with a brass clasp
and a small canvas holdall, burgundy with cream stripes
and I don't care about seatbelts, I'm shifting
my knees to one side to get a view
of her feet, the shoes she's wearing
which I know will make all the difference
to whether she'll scream and push me away
or cradle my face when I fall carefully
avoiding the book, the clasp
those wonderful breasts receiving me
like a tumbled duvet, like the fat woman
who once hugged me
into the roll and heat of her and said
Cry all you want.
Page(s) 70
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