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Mind the Gap
By Edward Manak (Senior)

"Mind the gap," the cool voice said
The signal for the massive horde.
I sat and watched as people fled
While many others climbed aboard.

Upon her face my eyes soon fell
And I felt something stir within;
She looked as if she'd come from hell,
Punished for some mortal sin.

Her clothes were tattered, dirty, torn,
Her face betrayed a troubled life.
She looked at me, with eyes forlorn;
Her cold gaze pierced me like a knife.

"Mind the gap," the cool voice said;
To get to her, I strained and fought!
But she was gone; a tear I shed.
My efforts had been all for naught.

Who was that little peasant girl
Upon the London Underground,
With dirty face and eyes like pearl,
Who came and went without a sound?

I saw her then, outside the train,
That spectre from another world.
That ghostly smile, quite arcane
Revealed the secrets never told.

"Mind the gap," the cool voice said;
I walked out to the London frost,
The only life among the dead
Like the girl, forever lost.