Lifeline

On the concourse, in the toilets,

in the mirror, I see someone,

maybe no-one, maybe me.

A rat in a hat at the starter’s gun

Rizzo? Roland? All aboard

the last train, the fast train,

going-to-work, going-to work.

Sisyphus, Sisyphus, Sisyphus:

hamster in the whirling wheel.

Feel the rolling over sleepers

hope they never try to wake,

make safe, make safe,

load, unload,

save the life

of a natterjack toad.

And the birdsong never, ever stops,

the crickets – crickets?

Hear them -electric- in the trees,

impossible, impossible, impossible:

halt, parkway, junction,

terminal.

End of this line, fast approaching;

in the mirror, there is no-one,

surely someone, surely me?