Veteran

Left over from a slower world, he seems
a faded story come alive, his speech
somewhat unworldly, like those half-real dreams
that morning will see slipping out of reach,
his manners perfect; he will lift his hat
to womanhood that in his inner eye
sports flowered frocks and parasols and flat
light sandals as he sees them walk on by.
Once part of Britain's mainstay, he has found
the times too fast to travel with the tide –
the ship sailed from the quay, he went to ground
and watched its outlines travel down the wide
cold river till the view got blurred and he
stayed sadly on, marooned, regretfully.