DRAGON IN A DREAM
I show Lydia
the toy Bowie knife
which came
with the cowboy outfit
my parents had bought
for my 9th birthday
and there's a 6 shooter
and holster
and other stuff
I say
we're standing
on the platform
at Waterloo
watching for the next
steam train
to come in
it looks quite real
she says
can I feel it?
I hand her
the toy knife
and she rubs
her finger along
the blade
looks sharp
but it's not at all
she says
handing me
back the knife
I put the knife
into the belt
of my jeans
and we look
for a train
if Hem had that
he'd throw it
at me pretending
I was his
knife throwing
assistant she informs
your brother's a twat
I say
she smiles
what's that?
I think it means
an idiot
I reply
I look at her
standing there
with her thin arms
and straight fair hair
and that always
worried stare
that off grey dress
the black plimsolls
and white socks
here comes one
Lydia says
pointing towards
the far end
of the platform
and I see the smoke
in the air
and the sound
and the smell
that steam trains have
and we stare
as it approaches
taking in the black
steaming beauty
of it as comes
on by
drinking in
the power
as it lets off steam
huge and noisy
like a dragon
in a dream.
