Tracks

The man tied down
to the railway tracks
is the man I want to be.

He is not imaginary-
he existed, the train tracks
were in South Wales.

I was a boy, 13, looked
older. I was stood closest
to him. The only one

to hear his final words.
In one ear
I heard the train approach

in the other I heard him mutter
to himself, or perhaps to me;
"I regret nothing."