Sitting on the tube with many stops to go

I’m travelling on the District Line, which always seems so slow

I am travelling to a meeting for a new business I’ve just joined

I’m feeling quite excited not knowing what I’ll find

                                      ~

For the first ten stops of more than thirty, I amuse myself with food

Fizzy drink, crisps and chocolate, will always get me in the mood

Now I start to watch the people who are sitting next to me

Especially the cute baby opposite whose sitting on her mummy’s knee

                                      ~

The person to my left, who joined the train two stops ago

Is now slumped and sleeping, and dreaming I suppose

The person to my right is talking excitedly with their friends

One of whom nearly falls on me as the tube sways round the bends

                                      ~

The tube sways and squeaks again and the lights flash on and off

This seems to wake the sleeper who then begins to cough

The baby starts to cry and tears roll down her face

Her mother strokes the baby’s head and tightens her embrace

                                      ~

Suddenly I realise the next stop is the one where I alight

Never before had I noticed such a journey could be a delight

As making observations has taken my thoughts away

From the nerves that have been forming for what happens next today.