A CHANCE MEETING

I was delayed in an airport recently and I got to talking to some people who were also waiting for their flight. Once on the plane I wrote this.

it’s a chance meeting in a delayed airport lounge

they talk about Lisbon it fills the empty minutes

afterwards he thinks that his younger self would not recognise what he has become

should they happen to meet one another in circumstances

perhaps this is what growing old is like

a head full of memories

and the ability to strike up a conversation

in a place where people wait

It's not an amazing poem but I feel it does capture my emotions at the time. Here's a rewrite. Thanks as usual to the Secret Poets for their invaluable input.

Instructions for Actors

when words fail us

we can call line

and the appropriate dialogue will be supplied

all we have to do is repeat what we hear

this drama that is our lives may continue until

the next person fluffs their speech

the director tells us to take ten

we look at each other and wonder what to say

You know, my poetry is the richer for collaboration. Having people to share and bounce ideas off is such a privilege. I think the poem has benefited from their perspectives. Here's the previous version. 

Natalie Merchant is touring the UK in the autumn, I for one can't wait.

Until next time.