Going Interstate

Adelaide airport - smart and new
A lounge with a panoramic view
Fellow travellers brightly dressed
Smiles from Virgin staff – impressed!

Australia’s vast - so interstate
Means add a half-hour at the Gate
Today’s white clouds recall Magritte*
Belgian artist – surreal wit.

I treat myself to coffee – strong
In paper goblet – cups are wrong
Australia’s keen on “take away”;
I sip my brew while on my way

Down a corridor to its end
On a carpet with a “parched field” trend.
Melbourne arrivals swarm on past
Loose shirts – there is no Business Class.

While we await our call to board
Kindles closed, computers stored,
With mobile phones, I-pads and books
No one at his neighbour looks.

With modern media we connect
But I feel a deep pang of regret.
With so many people here to meet
No one looks further than his seat …

(c) Poet in the woods 2014

* Rene Magritte: 1898-1967