London Tube Stop

London Tube Stop a poem by
keith o'connor

Poetry Index

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This is a short metaphorical poem about modern societies dependence on time: being born on a schedule working to a schedule and dying to a schedule. It uses the experience of waiting for a train in a London Underground Station as it's motif.

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London Tube Stop

from deep within the large
dark disquieting tube
distant thundering
of steel wheels
on steel track
mixing with wind
and darkness:
growing like an approaching tornado
- burst -
into the bright station lights

screeching to a stop of silence

wall of doors
brungbrungbrung bang

pushing - shoving - rushing
shoving - rushing - pushing
rushing - pushing - shoving
wall of doors
brungbrungbrung bang

shrill whistle
pierces the empty air
steel wheels screech
into thundering darkness
then - still silence
of the London tube

keith o'connor
London England
June 1986
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