reading on the train

the letters and the numbers pass me by
i'm lost in thought in every magic book
i have to force myself to think and look
minutes and seconds past me simply fly
we're in the tunnel there is no more sky
seductive words have got me on the hook
clever shepherds with a long-armed crook
it takes huge effort yet i've got to try
to rise and change trains at the proper station
where i've got more to travel and to read
and from the mundane world i'm briefly taken
and yet though normal be my situation
for those few moments from this life i'm freed
until by stern reality my peace is shaken