Train spotters love trains, tracks, stations, sidings,

Steep cuttings, mortar, stony spaces.

Straining to observe the woosh and swoosh,

Chatter and clatter of carriage and truck

And engine names.

Buddleias spring from bridge and brick,

Colouring impossible places,

Stattoes of the railway network:

“The nine-forty to Liverpool is late,

Leaves on the line.”

And butterflies in liveried red

Burst myriad from blooms of white and purple,

Flitting updates down the lines,

Past platforms and points

To nectar buffets.

“Pass it on, pass it on.

Diversion at Darlington,

Maintenance at Manchester,

Signal Failure at Stoke.”

Express trains, freight trains, steam trains,

Electric and diesel.

Buddleias just love trains, tracks, stations, sidings,

The chatter and clatter of carriage and truck

And engine names.