Roger G McDonald: ‘Change here’

Change here

The platform announcement said
The service would terminate
At Upper Anxiety,
Stopping most stations ahead.
Change here for Longing, or wait
For the bus link to Forget.
I got off at Duplicity
To catch one to Regret.

The change from a familiar line—
We’d moved to Necessity,
A nail-chewed, run-down kind of place—
Meant halts at Gloom and Steep Decline,
Ingratitude, Perversity,
And deserted, lonely stops
Like Dishonour and Disgrace
Where weeds are the only crops.

We rattled past Ignominy,
Discredit and Despair.
I slept through Lies and Defection
But woke at Disharmony.
A few more stops and I’d be there.
Inspectors boarded at Blame.
I fled to avoid detection,
And trudged the miles home to Shame.

Roger G McDonald