VANISHING POINT

by ray pool

Monday 24th September 2018 2:21 pm

Here stands Tim Quiney

porter at Defford

for over thirty years.

In the background, undisturbed

the station he knew so well,

in the Vale of Salty Tears.

Such men are copied

on heritage lines,

celebrating the way things used to be,

but on that day we see him

he went down with history

along with the Vale of Salty Tears.

He lost his job along with others

too late for a purpose to serve,

rather too poignant to quite take in

when progress seems just

a vanishing point,

not quite what it appears.

Comments

raypool

Sun 30th Sep 2018 11:34

Thanks for your full comment Kevin. As you rightly point out, his life was just a symbol of loyal service quite rare today and seems like a fixed point in time . No zero hour contracts in those days. That's why the great tectonic shifts of industry in the 60s had such a devastating effect.
Glad it worked for you; i'm grateful for you stopping by.

Ray

kJ Walker

Sun 30th Sep 2018 09:54

Hi Ray
I see Tim Quiney as a hard working but unextraordinary man. He must have been happy in his work to stick with it for over 30 years. redundancy must have come as a blow, because it took away not just his wage packet, but also to some degree his purpose for being.

Now volunteers dress up and do jobs like his as part of a heritage line. It must be heart-breaking to see his job reduced to another man's hobby.

As I read this it conjured up an image in my mind, where Tim was the only solid character, and the background and other people were faded and ghost-like.

Cheers Kevin

raypool

Sat 29th Sep 2018 23:07

I appreciate your looking in Hannah. As always your comments are well considered, and capture my wishes completely.

Ray

<Deleted User> (18118)

Fri 28th Sep 2018 18:14

Just another statistic in some ways but a real person whom we have met via your sensitive poem.

Hannah

raypool

Wed 26th Sep 2018 20:47

Thanks for liking, Jon, Anya, Brian and Taylor.

Hi David, yes I fear the despicable wanderings are only in my mind these days - but they are triggered off by the odd delving through dusty bookshops in the railway section.
This photo literally turned me to tears for some reason. The sense of hopeless pride is what did it . "Here stands" was like an attempt at a reference point, a memorial perhaps. John Betjeman has one, but like the unnamed soldier could we not pick a non entity in the eyes of the world and raise him as a symbol of dedication. No, I thought not.

I checked on Defford, and as you say, quite a significant place. Now only to be visited by car.

Thanks mate.

Cheers Jennifer, yes I think you have it there !

Ray

jennifer Malden

Tue 25th Sep 2018 19:40

Beautiful as usual but sad - as you say progress is often just a vanishing point for some, not what it appears.Perhaps' he stands 'refers to his last stand before final defeat?

Jennifer

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VANISHING POINT

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