Faces crease in concentration
Making efforts to ignore
Insistent toddler at the station
Tantrum thrown beside the door
Tired workers heading homeward
All but desperate for peace
Nervous mother still a coward
Fearing offspring’s full release
Cries that echo round the carriage
Painful stares at stalemate scowl
The product of a broken marriage
Childhood monster’s awful howl
Pacifist attempts a token
Of what discipline we lack
Silent look conveys unspoken
‘Madam take your vile kid back’
Children borne but rarely welcome
Oft ignored with quiet bribes
Entering a world that needs them
Yet can’t stomach little lives
Katherine Shirley 