A newish 7 ages, Max, maybe just these 2, but felt...
Doug
On 2013-04-23, at 4:31 PM, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Strap-Hanging: Auckland, Melbourne
>
>
> The boy I was travels with me
> always, and now it's trams again -
>
> as when, a high school boy, I first
> went out unparented.
>
> In uniform, with bag and cap,
> instilled with deference,
>
> I got to give my seat to adults,
> men or women, specially women.
>
> With a polite smile I'd reach up
> and clutch a strap as the tram lurched.
>
> Once, in an over-warm tram
> I flushed inside my raincoat
>
> and crumpled in a faint.
> Kind strangers helped me to a seat,
>
> I came to, abashed, protected;
> helped off at my stop
>
> for the walk home feeling reborn.
> I was said to have 'outgrown my strength'.
>
> Now I've outlived it -
> now it's: climb stiffly aboard,
>
> look for a seat - unlikely
> possibility so near town,
>
> cling to a strap, survey
> my fellow-passengers.
>
> Long before I can feel faint,
> some young person -
>
> especially female -
> offers me a seat.
>
> The boy I was, who travels
> with me, blushes -
>
> the pensioner I am smiles -
> amazed that code survives -
>
> I crumple into my
> unaccustomed category.
>
Douglas Barbour
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