Holborn Poem by Andrew Zolnai

And there you stand on the platform
Gaze in the distance early morn
I've seen you off and on
But only traveller anon'

In the tube I see you again
Walk up, “Hello” I say
“We get on the same station and...”
Recognition lights up your face

We banter in the crowd and heat
Squeeze into the carriage
Separate in the human press
You look over and I smile back

When you get off you smile
I mouth ‘see you later’
Nice to make connection
Amid the crowd of a million

When you stepped off the train
Did you step in my life or out
Is it a comma, a period
Question or exclamation mark

(March 2009)