Poetry - Baggage
This was close to being a piece of flash fiction, but I think it works well broken up like this into short lines. It's inspired by a real person who looked rather lost on the platform at Liverpool Street last week.
Four in the afternoon
Platform twelve
An air fryer under your left arm
A TV under your right
Your backpack bulges
Drumsticks peek through the top
A handbag overflows with parking tickets
Hair tied up with pink elastic bands
Three mobile phones tucked into your hoody
Shirt sleeves poke from the suitcase
Wheels scrape across the floor
Wires and cables stretch between each pocket
Headphones around your neck
You approach the ticket barrier to leave
The inspector asks for a ticket you can't find
Where did you come from he asks
You have tears in your eyes
