Seeking Serendipity

Once upon a train to Didcot,
A wise man wonderfully whispered,
"Seek Serendipity my son".
Strange, he was not my father.
Just a clichéd charismatic character.
For as I recall my thoughts,
My mind jumps to explain,
The unlooked for happening,
Upon that train.
"Seeking Serendipity?" Replied I
"Yes" Quoth the wise man,
With steely eye.
I turned away from the wiseman,
But have you not missed the point,
Thought I,
'Tis meant to be unlooked for,
So "why?"
I turned once more to the wiseman,
Who refrained from commenting more.

Time passed,
The train rattled,
The sleeping world sped by,
And my eyelids began to droop,
Monotony became common shared time.
In the darkening twilight I puzzled,
Upon the mages words.

"Tickets to serendipity"
Chirped the guard.
"Pardon?"
I bleakly replied
Before a word was uttered more,
The wiseman reported,
"He knows not of serendipity"
In that you may be thwarted
"He does have that glazed grin"
Said the guard,
Tapping her polished boot,
Upon the floor,
"It is simple young sir!"
Exclaimed the ticket maid,
In a voice that spoke of white knights on horse,
"You cannot seek but you must be open"
Words uttered echoed into silence.
As we rode into Didcot Parkway station.

I got up to leave the wiseman and the maid,
Who said not goodbye,
But spoke as one, "Remember!"
My head lost in deep thought.
I departed across the gap,
I alighted into the orange glow,
My eyes hard upon the floor
A lass brushed past on my left,
Something white fell away,
In the corner of my eye,
My footsteps arrested,
I stood staring,
At this object so white,
At this bereft handkerchief,
"Miss" I cried,
For I was not late tonight,
But she was already seated,
Without a thought I charged,
Making the step with a bound,
The doors cut through the air,
To complete the surround,
And as the train began to sway,
I spoke up,
"Miss, you dropped this"
As her head turned to take in this new voice,
Between the clack of the wheels on the track,
My head leant to one side,
My eyes opened wide,
My heart jumped the gap,
Her eyes said welcome back,
And the wiseman and the maid spoke again,
"Serendipity next stop!"
With a smile and a nod,
I took her hand and held on.