fivechanges

Five changes

If I tried to give you up, it would be like
buying a train ticket from Aberystwyth
to Hastings, on a Sunday or a Bank Holiday -
a reduced service, works on the line
essential maintenance;
and I'd expected five changes, steeled myself for
Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Reading, Gatwick and
Brighton
had psyched myself to tick them off, one by one,
but found cancellations,
my progress halted, my plans thwarted,
my route re-arranged on a chalked easel
with quirky spellings; inaudible apologies
and instead of three-down-two-to-go,
time for a coffee, a quick last sidinged pass
at crossword or sudoku,
I'd find I was just travelling - locomoting slowly -
in a large reticulated arc
back
to you.