Pardon me boys, is that the Cat that Chewed your new Shoes?*

The Train, an illustration by Phil Burns

AnElephantCant keep on walking forever
He doesn’t want to wear out his shoes
He is just a big boy
So his face beams with joy
When his journey means he goes on choo choos

It certainly should not surprise either reader
AnElephant is not overburdened with brains
You know from the start
He is still a daft kid at heart
So he just loves to travel on trains

Each week he takes a jaunt up to Glasgow
From his current home in Damperton-sur-Leven
He zooms up the side
Of the historic River Clyde
Past the Erskine Bridge which is magic believe him

He remembers the Amtrak to Portland
Through the spectacular Columbia River Gorge
Now that is a trip
That makes his ears flip
And lights up his vacation like a bright shining torch

He traverses the Alps from France into Italy
On a train under majestic Mont Blanc
In the north his chemin de fer
Says Ter Mer Ter Vert**
As it transports him from Calais to Amiens

He gets a bonzer Iron Horse in Australia
To the centre of wonderful Sydney
But his favourite train
Brings him back home again
And warms his old soul quite significantly

*The punch-line of an appallingly bad joke about the Chattanooga Choo Choo!

**TER – Transport Express Regional – SNCF, a branch of the French National Railways.
The slogan Ter Mer, Ter Vert means, loosely, take the train to the seaside (Mer) or to the countryside (Vert).