platform 1 flinders street station
the way the people reached and screamed
the way they screamed and reached
a frieze of people on the platform
one arm — and only one — outstretched
a woman shouted — NO!
from deep from deep from deep
some decades later—
the adrenaline rush manifests
as a stately parade
of oddball facts
spanning years —
the sound
something between a smash and a crunch
loud, yes, very loud, and mortal
what, and out of the corner of my eye
had that been a flutter or a falling?
a simple second later
i find
i have run sideways
slap up against the brick wall
this is what i do, it seems
to not see
i say — i am so sorry to a teenage girl
collapsed into her mother’s arms
at the top of the escalator
a stiff-backed silhouette nods at her man
two little chaps crimp their fingers
their father kneels and gentles them
and then the sirens
coming from all directions at once
how vivid are the colours of this ordinary day
the coffee and the cigarette are perfect