Raymond Humphreys
Windowscape
Time and the early morning train had stopped
and the neon morning took on a softer glow
to enjoy this gifted freedom from the workaday world.
Even the buzzing voices of the others in the carriage
dropped by a respectful octave: they sensed it too.
Inside, we were sealed from the real world.
Outside, it was a watercolour December
under a cloud-and-ink sky.
Even the distant orange street lights
could not intrude on this quiet moment.
Car headlights were the eyes of faraway ghosts;
some creature flapped past the window,
its quest no business of ours;
the silhouettes of trees were the cardboard scenery
of the silent stage outside.
Then the signal must have changed;
a hesitant apology over the speaker,
and the train grumbled forward.
The talk was all of minutes lost from the business day,
but in the shadows lingered a passing regret
that the clocks were ticking again.
and the neon morning took on a softer glow
to enjoy this gifted freedom from the workaday world.
Even the buzzing voices of the others in the carriage
dropped by a respectful octave: they sensed it too.
Inside, we were sealed from the real world.
Outside, it was a watercolour December
under a cloud-and-ink sky.
Even the distant orange street lights
could not intrude on this quiet moment.
Car headlights were the eyes of faraway ghosts;
some creature flapped past the window,
its quest no business of ours;
the silhouettes of trees were the cardboard scenery
of the silent stage outside.
Then the signal must have changed;
a hesitant apology over the speaker,
and the train grumbled forward.
The talk was all of minutes lost from the business day,
but in the shadows lingered a passing regret
that the clocks were ticking again.
Page(s) 25
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