When my underground train stopped in the tunnel
I saw the word needless
Painted on the wall above the cables
The carriage was crowded
But no-one else noticed it
Which puzzled me
Two girls were living together in an apartment
They loved each other
But they loved music more intensely
Quite often the taller girl
Would sit at a piano and play
The smaller girl who was working too hard
Would sit back and close her eyes
In a short-dream between stations
I dreamt that I was running down a narrow lane
Towards a busy main road
The lane was enclosed by red brick walls
Much weathered
In the seats opposite me
Two nuns are reading Nabokov’s Lolita
They are a mother and daughter
And are being punished by the church
For sharing the same lover