Train Journey

We see their villages for nanoseconds
Passing through like a stag party, with more dignity
And fewer lewd jokes.
Apart from the drunken lads
Still high from a night in town, sprawled
Across the aisle
As they compete for who touched more girls.
Lost in waistcoats and wellingtons.
I watch the woman walking her dog
Streaking, the grass wild around hind legs
Striving to beat our train, snaking like a ghost.
Glimpse into windows where families perch
At breakfast tables, too busy to sit down
And enjoy the contact.
We recline in carpeted seats, enclosed,
Reluctant to make eye-contact, to smile
Reluctant to see.