Keeping with the theme of cities from last time, we built on memories of old fashioned buses and trains and trams and trolleybuses this week, exploring three poems about travel. We also heard a blast from the past in the form of the song ‘Finchley Central‘ by the New Vaudeville Band, from 1966 and also ‘Bus Stop‘ by The Hollies.
The first text we read was one of the many poems John Betjeman wrote about trains. This one was written in 1949 and is called ‘Harrow on the Hill‘ and it describes the hissing, clicking sound of trolley buses reminding him of waves and the rooftops of houses seeming like ships.
Then we changed direction and explored a poem by a young contemporary poet from Texas, who describes brilliantly the feeling of being sat in the back seat of the car with her brother, being driven by their father, who they love and look up to. It’s so evocative and prompted many of us to recall similar experiences. Her name is Tennessee Hill and the poem is ‘Driving Home from Keyworth’s‘.
Finally we thought about the strangeness of etiquette on public transport where we don’t tend to talk to one another and are each in our private worlds. This short but moving and funny poem ‘The Train‘ by David Orr, distills this down into a brief journey in which no one notices when his speaker (metaphorically) is struck by lightning and bursts into flames on the 8.07 commuter train to New Haven. So many participants had their own stories to tell about this kind of thing!
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