nostalgic tea time at five o'clock.
At Embankment, on the platform worn and bare, She comes again, a prayer in morning’s light, To hear him—briefly—call across the night: “Mind the gap,” a phrase turned into quiet care.
Though Oswald's gone, she finds him always there In that old warning, bold against the blight. Margaret listens, cloaked in shades of white From memory’s hush, steadfast in love’s affair.
When progress claimed his voice with metal breath, She asked for tape—like relic, like a plea— And London, moved, defied the march of death
To give his words a place where they still be. True love won’t fade, nor sink in shadow’s theft— It rides each train in soft eternity.
***
*In London, there is a woman who comes to the tube every day and stands on the platform, only to hear an announcement recorded in the 1960s. It is the famous phrase “Mind the gap”, known to all travelers and intended to warn them about the space between the train and the platform. This phrase was recorded by Oswald Lawrence, Margaret McCollum’s husband. In 2003, Oswald passed away, leaving a huge void in Margaret’s heart. But she found a way to feel his presence. Every day, she can hear his voice – even if only for a moment, in a single phrase – there, on the tube platform, feeling him close again. However, in the relentless rush of progress, the recording has been replaced by the impersonal voice of a robot. Margaret addressed the London transport authorities, asking to be given the tape of her husband’s voice, so that she could listen to it at home. Moved by the heartbreaking story, the company has decided to restore the original advert at just one station – the one near Margaret’s home. This means that passengers passing through Embankment station on the Northern Line can once again hear Oswald Lawrence’s voice. With this touching gesture, the city is reminding us that true love knows no end.
Bunden vers (Sonett)
av Jeflea Norma, Diana.
Publicerad 2025-07-23 15:23