poems on the underground

on the tube to Leicester Square
(Northern Line)
sat a happy young man
reading lines
from the "poems on the underground" series
  Patrick Kavanagh recording melancholy
  in five or six lines
smiling

she would be waiting there          he knew
  looking angelic as always
  opposite the Odeon listening to the buskers
                                  rain or shine
and she'd always do the latter

then he was (as they say) in love
and pedestalled her higher
than Nelson
and all those "poems on the underground"
made him smile          even sad ones
because he was registering bliss



* * *



on the tube to Leicester Square
(Piccadilly Line)
sat a maudlin young woman
reading lines
from the "poems on the underground" series
  Roger McGough wanting to lead her
  from melancholy
weeping

he'd soon be hating her          she knew
  with that angry man stance
  when she spoke of the truth
                            of her life
                            of her work
and how neither should matter

then she was (as they say) in love
and of course it did matter
so she cried
and all those "poems on the underground"
made her cry          even happy ones
because prostitutes don't fall in love

because prostitutes don't fall in love
             prostitutes don't fall in love
                              don't fall in love
                                       fall in love
                                             in love
                                                 love