Train Friends

Because my hair is long
I wear a kerchief.

When the children were young
and I was busy
my kerchief kept my hair out of my eyes
and the cake mix
and the wringer on my washing machine.

I gave up my kerchief
after that dreaded day in September.

The washing machine is now automatic
the cake comes from the bakery
and my hair still gets in my eyes.

I am more relaxed now
that the children are grown
and I have gone back to my kerchief.

I sat on the train today
with a lady in a head scarf
and we shared stories
of our lives in the cold countries
before we moved to the warmth.

Vivian Garner is a 2017 Masters Degree in Creative Writing graduate from Tabor College. She has had her poems published in Tabor’s annual anthology ‘Tales from the Upper Room’, the Hunter Writers Centre 2017 Grieve Anthology, and Canada’s Okanagan College journal SAGE-ING. Living in Adelaide’s CBD, she enjoys the art gallery, theatre events and other cultural opportunities, and is a member of two writing groups. Today’s poem is from Vivian’s work-in-progress collection ‘City Living’.