Spectator poems
From the magazine

The Train is Coming

Julian Stannard
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 28 June 2025
issue 28 June 2025

There was a train in the distance.
Comforting to know the train was coming.
Comforting to know it was a long way off.

One day I stood on the platform
trying to imagine the train lolloping in.
It rushed by and kicked up a wind.

And – figure this? – it knocked off my hat.