St George's Cross

St George’s cross underground is

where I heard the sound

of the train that took me to see

granny. She met me at the station in Govan, me

being only seven. Mammy put me on the train-five stops to

Govan, and a weekend of bliss, with

granny, and auntie, who was like a big sister. The train

was always busy on a Friday, with

the shipyard workers, on their pay day. The smell of

cigarette smoke clung to my clothes,

went up my nose, making me sneeze

and almost cough. The conductor clicked my ticket;

told me my stop, just in case I missed it.

The small platform seemed so big to me,

a wee girl, skirt down to my knees.

‘You’ll grow into it,’ mammy would say as I

waited impatiently for the train to stop at

St George’s Cross to take me to

the place that I loved the most,

Drinking tea and eating toast, watching

don’t watch alone even though it was late,

and I wasn’t yet eight.

The walk to granny’s house seemed long to me then;

in fact it only took ten

minutes or less to

reach the place that I loved best

in all the world. Putting curlers in granny’s hair,

remembering as I ran up the stairs

to always end on my left foot.

Odd stairs start with the left foot,

and the right when even numbers;

The journey home was in reverse; goodbye granny

and hello mammy. I miss those journeys;

fifty three years later-no mammy or granny to visit;

I didn’t’t realise how much I would miss them.

Revised version

St George’s cross underground;

where I heard the sound

of the train that took me to see granny.

She met me at the station in Govan, me

being only seven.

Mammy put me on the train-five stops to

a weekend of bliss,

to savour granny’s kiss.

The train was busy on a Friday-

the shipyard workers, on their pay day.

The smell of cigarette smoke clung

to my clothes,

went up my nose,

making me sneeze and almost

cough.

The conductor clicked my ticket;

told me my stop, just in case I missed it.

The small platform seemed so big to me,

a wee girl, skirt down to my knees.

Those were halcyon days