Travelling with thought: Underground poetry

Teenage me could have been described of as a little unusual and a contradiction of self.  I was a tomboy and would play football for 'steams' with the boys (steams was to basically be beaten up if you missed a goal; there were no holds barred) but dress and wear my hair like the girls.   Fun was reading a dictionary, spending masses of time at my local museum and taking photographs of the evening and night skies from my bedroom window, whilst listening to a selection of hip hop or classical music dressed as Salt n Pepa!  

I very rarely take public transport, an anomaly being a Londoner, but it was, at this time, necessary;  during a tube journey I saw, in the advertisement space above the seats, an underground poem celebrating 150 years on the underground.

Pleased to see it was still going; contradictory as I was as a teenager, adding to my eccletic tastes, an avid fan of the underground poetry, so much so I collected the actual cards roping my fellow school travellers into helping me on the daily long journey from Fulham to home in Willesden.  It was probably not permitted and  the devastating day I had to throw them all out of my bedroom sticks in my memory, my mum was none to impressed with the piles of metre long cards building up!  With the  interior trend of bus blinds and road signs, I regret not keeping at least one.  It would look fantastic on my entrance hall wall!

I've always loved the beauty and intelligence of poetry and think it's a fantastic way to introduce the beauty of words to people who have never read poetry at all.  It's also a fantastic way to spend a journey, how quickly you are transported into the beauty of verse.

                                                

Conscious that the train was crowded full of people not wanting to inadvertently photobomb any picture I attempted to take, my option was to go home, get online and take a picture of one of the poems as listed by TFL.  Next time you are on the tube, have a look for a poem, it may make your journey that little bit more beautiful.  It always has with mine. 

    

Tomboy -x-