A Choice Of Three

In the tunnel I noticed I had a choice of three
While I thought it very kind of them to offer me this
I do wonder if they realized what a dilemma they were sending to face me

The trouble was, if I looked at your reflection in the left window
I missed the actual image of you and your reflection in the right
And if I looked in the right I had the same problem but the other way around

At first I thought I should probably settle on one of the mirrors
As they were soon to disappear, but that idea quickly wilted
And my attention was drawn back to the center
Occasionally checking on either side

I must say I did question the authenticity of your nap a few minutes before
As the train left Loughborough I suspected it could've been a device to avoid conversation
I'd barely considered this for a moment, however
When a heavy breath and a gulping sound
That I decided would be too embarrassing to fake
Led me to conclude that your nap wasn't fraudulent

I found it difficult to concentrate on anything else
As you slumped beneath your coat
Delighted that we'd waited until this hour to travel
So the evening Sun got its opportunity
To skip across those sleeping cheeks
But unnerved by the prospect of being removed
From the opposing chair to yours
I knew it was reserved but hoped that whoever had reserved it had fallen over

It looked as if today I'd be safe
The train wasn't too busy but I did take a moment
To recall the time when I was less fortunate

I remembered it with a chilling vivivity
We were on the way to Brighton

I knew it was going to be his seat as soon as I saw him on the platform
Unzipping, checking, zipping, and rechecking things
Something about his face suggested that he had for years had a mustache
And had not long since removed it
He wasn't going to think twice about disposing of me
Especially considering then he'd get the chance to sit with you

Though his hiking boot-March through the carriage was rather revolting
It wasn't this that made my hands tense up into sour claws of nausea
It was the way he said it

You're in my seat

No excuse me: No polite uncertainty
Just the rigid, hideous fact
The thud with which it landed expelled all my preparation
Before I remembered my plans to pretend to be asleep, deaf, French
Or only sat there because someone else was in my seat
I was walking to find another vacancy

I ended up dwelling unhappily beside a girl with a boys bum
I knew that because she walked too far past when she returned to one of what I thought to be two empty seats
When I sat myself there, I fidgeted until our reunion on the platform
Where you brutally informed me That man was really rather pleasant, actually

Today I thought I'd better make sure that couldn't happen again
And I pulled the ticket from the top of my seat
It took a few attempts and the facade of hanging a jacket to finally complete
I was terribly cautious, there's a threat of punishment for such deeds by fine as far as I understand
But those shackles were at the back of my mind
As I crushed the reservation in my hidden fist
Folding and squeezing as if it were that beast on the way to the seaside

Fortunately, there was no retribution
If anything the train got quieter as the journey continued

And so in the tunnel, unable to decide
My head flicked through this trilogy of angles, angel after angle
Until we were out the other side

My frantic twitching no doubt caused the man at the adjacent table
To narrow his eyes at the very least, I imagine

I don't know for sure

I didn't have time to add him to the cycle