Railway dreams

 I remember when we used to

cycle across the railway bridge

With friends

Down the road from Ashcott

And the walk through the glens

And hanging greenery

That was the woodland there

All is gone, or have I moved on?

What remains is just a memory

In my mind's ear I hear

The steam trains shuffling

Whistling clear

their boiler bellies puffing

And yet I know the end of the track is coming

And yet I know I'll follow it to the sea

Burnham and Highbridge

Try to launch ourselves

Across the Severn estuary

We have no chances

Just to be swept up

And drowned in the wash

Still there's the hope

We could catch a boat

And make it to Cardiff or Penarth

And we could keep going

Because the end of the line

Is so far off

Perhaps it's a lie

But it's a good one

I wish to tell myself

That we can reach the end

Of the rainbow

That there's a future

Worth thinking of