Whilst travelling onboard a steam train on a preserved railway

I saw a large dog sitting in the corridor of the carriage

It occurred to me that it was admiring the wood panelling

But I was mistaken as it was in despair at the state of the world

 

We shall be better prepared for the future 

If we see how terrible how doomed the present is 

 

I asked the dog why it was quoting Iris Murdoch

It did not answer immediately

 

In fact this dog never spoke to me again

As I was imagining its very presence

 

I was not on a train

But sitting in sad cafe

With a friendly coffee

Thinking about the world

Which often disgusted me

 

From my table I could see Jane

On the opposite side of the street

She was wearing a summer dress

Yellow and Green Red and Blue

How beautiful she was in the summer light

 

The world and its idiots

No longer concerned me

Beauty was everything

The future would care for itself

As for the present

I was past really really caring

 

 

 

 

Outlaw