THOUGHTS IN A TRAIN

No doubt she is somebody's mistress,
With that Greta Garbo hair,
And she sits, mascara-lidded.
In the corner seat over there.

But why, if she's somebody's mistress,
Is she travelling up in a Third?
Her luggage is leather, not plastic,
Her jewelry rich and absurd.

'Oh I am nobody's mistress:
The jewels I wear, you see,
Were, like this leather luggage,
A present from Mummy to me.

'If you want to get on with the Government,
You've got to be like it, I've heard;
So I've booked my suite in the Ritz Hotel
And I'm travelling up in a Third.'

John Betjeman

Edition of 20. £50