As the train slid out of Carshalton station towards Sutton
I pointed out of the window and said to them
You’re going to see my school.
That building there was my junior school from when I was 10
And now here are the grounds and then the senior school.
There’s the chapel, there’s the new science block
That clock tower up there is over the school hall.
The three of them turned astonished faces to me –
But Granny, I thought you just lived in Manchester!
And laughing at their consternation
I suddenly reflected in astonishment on the fact
that the miserable 10 year old
reading her book in that playground because she had no friends
feeling sick with anxiety and watching the trains pass by
Would one day look down from a train
At the very same place
with 3 lovely grandchildren around her.
Riverview Songs 