Great Malvern Poem by Neil Leadbeater

Great trains came here.

We used to wave them on as if we could help them on their way;
enjoyed the rush of windows picking up speed a mile out
or, if it was a goods train,
the power of freight slamming its load
like thunder down the line.

That was when we felt your absence
hit us the most -
it made us stop in our tracks.

We were the children who waved their handkerchiefs
from the high embankment
and you were the father who made it back
walking towards your beloved daughter
out of the head of steam.