The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

The Crossing

The holidays always began for me
when the warning lights flashed red
and the line of cars at either side
of the great divide stopped dead.

Quick Dad! Quick! Come on! Come on!
I cried as the gates closed shut
and we stood with our hands together
not sure which way to look.

Up and down the shining rails
we heard the humming sound:
the song of drums of thunder
rippling over the ground

and the carriages of the East Coast Line
flew past in a blur of blue
and I never hear a train go by these days,
without a thought for you.

About the Writer


Andy Nuttall

Andy grew up in East Lancashire. He lives in the North-East of England where he works in social care. He has a children's poem currently published in Spellbinder Quarterly and has adult work showcased on the Iambapoet platform (Wave Six) curated by the poet Mark Antony Owen. He has appeared in Acumen Journal last year.