Written by Ian Brownlie
When your train goes off-track
you might feel trepidation.
But why just bounce back
to the same old locations,
tied to regular stations
for timetabled durations
with no chance of vacation?
Is there not some temptation
to resist this stagnation?
Perhaps instead take advantage
of coming off the rails.
Glide over the countryside,
towards a port.
Chug up to a ferry, and take a trip overseas.
Hit the road,
join a traffic jam and blare your superior train horn,
then break free and pick up speed.
Do the locomotive
in a town you don't know the name of.
Head deep underground,
through unmapped caverns.
Take flight, if you can,
or simply jump up and feel the air step aside as you rise.
And one day your trails
may lead back to your rails.
Or perhaps they never will.
The beauty of it is
that it’s all up to you.
.
Ian Brownlie lives with his family in Marlow, Bucks (UK). He has poems and stories for children in The Dirigible Balloon, Tyger Tyger, Little Thoughts Press, The School Magazine, Nimblewitlit ,and The Toy. He has been longlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition and Searchlight’s Best Novel Opening award. Ian’s writing for adults has appeared in SHINE Quarterly, Rough Diamond, Underbelly, Cosmic Daffodil, streetcake, and Viridine Lit. BlueSky: @ianbrownlie.bsky.social Instagram: @ibrownlie.