Words by Robert Staniford

Sojourn

Sojourn, to shelter from the winds that rage;

to rest and dream and feel a warm embrace

whilst flames draw pictures like some eerie dancing mage

within the hearth, and will not reveal his face.

The thunder roars a violent overture and dies,

to sound again as dark clouds hide the moon;

the lightning fires the dark night’s foaming, broody skies,

to briefly drive the shadows from the room.

I see her gentle face for just that moment,

love ignites like glowing embers in her eyes.

We travelers through the gale look for the storm’s relent

as we watch the warfare raging in the skies.

Moonlight

Moonlight dripped upon the frosted rails

And a misty shroud dimmed the signal’s light.

Looking along the tracks, the woman pales

And shivers, fearful, cold, alone this night.

Strange chance it was that brought her here,

To say a sad goodbye to the world she’d known.

She’d watched her lover pale and disappear

Into the shadows, leaving her to stand alone.

The cold she felt was more than winter frost,

A fearful dread enveloped moonlit night,

And grabbed at Madeleine as she sought the lover lost,

Now staring to where he’d vanished from her sight.

The low rumbling sound along the line

And the spectral light drawing rapidly near

Pulled Madeleine now towards the sign,

To the yellowed print that seemed suddenly clear.

Tearing away from her fruitless searching

To see the train slow down and stay,

Madeleine watched the passengers now emerging

And boarded unseen as the engine pulled away.

Beside a plot of earth the lover stood,

Staring vacantly at the cold grey stone

“If only there was a way,” he cried, perhaps he could

Replace Madeleine’s name there with his own.

“I would give you back your days,” he said,

“Just know that I would never leave,”

He knelt and bowed his troubled head,

“Now I must be alone to grieve.”

A distant rumble cut the quiet night,

A spectral light sped through a frosty mist,

A yellowed sign faintly showed in the cold, dim light

And then was gone as the engine hissed.