Shildon to Darlington

Shildon to Darlington

(site of the world’s first passenger railway)

There once were sleepers

Steel bones

Twisted skeletons

Overgrown with rust.

Broken promises

Of fulfilment

Buried in hubris

Records

Of achievement

Badly preserved Victoriana.

Flowers strewn

Across the ground

From adulation

To ignominy

Poppies and Buttercups

Scraps of rustic beauty

Industrial landscapes

Laid to waste.

Ancient faces

Disguised as stars

Sorrowed by the passing

Of an older age.

I blow more steam

From between pursed lips

The air is hung

With disappointment.

Lost empires

Leave their mark

Follow the flag

It waves a warning.

The speed of breakdown

Will astound you.