Thirteen

The train stations of middle England  

with their ‘Parkway’ epithets,  

fried breakfasts and untidy homeliness.  

A couple of buzzards, farmland.  

Almost nothing to see.  

I notice a certain harmony  

for the first time on an old song.  

Something I must have been missing  

for years – as if it had never been.  

I wonder what it would feel like  

to talk to you once more about that small noise –  

that near inaudible voice. 

from 'Country Music' (Offord Road Books, 2020), © Will Burns 2020, used by permission of the author.

Will Burns is a poet and novelist. He first came to prominence in 2014 as a Faber New Poet and has since authored poetry collections ...

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