If you’re late and can’t get on / Just wait – more trains will come along: The magnus opus that just won Transport for London’s poetry competition
Transport for London (TfL) has announced the title of the winning poem for its etiquette poetry competition: "Avoid Unnecessary Delays. Don't Hold Open the Doors". Alright, so it's hardly Ode to a Grecian Urn – but it has a certain ring to it…….
Back in February, London's transport authority requested poems for a special poster campaign, to be launched throughout the capital's tube network. The subject? Manners. Aspiring bards could choose from such inspirational subjects as "not dropping litter", "pulling the passenger alarm unnecessarily" and "not playing loud music" (we hear Wordsworth himself had trouble with that one).
The winner was chosen by a "distinguished panel of judges" including Aisling Fahey, the young poet laureate for London; writer George the Poet and Sophie Baker, from the Poetry Society.
Here it is, in its full glory: