Adlestrop. I saw the name, quite briefly,
On a post. I slowed and turned the car around.
"Perhaps", I said, "we'll see the spot where Thomas stopped
Unwontedly."

A bus shelter now is all there is
Where no-one left and no-one came.
A notice saying "Village fete today"
And the station sign saying....that name.

No steam hissed and no-one cleared their throat
As I stood still on an afternoon of rain.
"Let's go", she said, again,
And so we left and never heard the birds.