Friday 8 February 2013

On tram lines


I'll write whatever I damn please, whenever I damn please, and as I damn please . . .  - William Carlos Williams


the usual people
on the morning tram
are reading
the usual newspapers
are reading
the usual emails
from the usual people
are thumbing
through the usual internet apps
and
as usual
it's true to say
not one in fifty is reading a book
and not one in a thousand is reading a poetry book
 this number might even be one in ten thousand
 maybe one in a million 

  observing all this
as usual
someone now writes a poem
about it

 this is most unusual


2 comments:

  1. Enjoyed this one, Gwilliam, and, of course, you're right although maybe Glaswegians are a bit more literate than most and I can usually see three or four people with books on the bus which would cut that ratio down to maybe 1:20. But you're right, the only person I've ever seen reading poetry--or, indeed, writing poetry--on a bus or a train has been me and that's ever.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Jim, we're in a minority of two so we must be doing something right!

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