Silver shimmering ghost in spray painted

bowler hat, a mime formed

on Bradford Interchange Station

platform one, she moves,

feminine gestures, this quiet symbol on the streets

free to do as she pleases

when she believes nobody

is watching her satirise the unmoved;

a hand outstretched

she greets a pale pallor Parlour girl,

poor and wastrel, waif in bustles

and then as the train to York slides along

the platform edge, they depart,

quiet but moving; unspoken gestures of comfort

in their stony set faces.

Ian D. Hall 2018