London to Edinburgh by Norman MacCaig

I’m now reading my way through The Many Days: Selected Poems by Norman MacCaig (1910-1996) and enjoying greatly the directness, simplicity, and thoughtful depth of his poems. This morning I read this poem he wrote on a train from London to Edinburgh. That’s a journey I have done many times but still enjoy. The first time I made the journey was my first trip to Scotland when I went to Edinburgh to study medicine. I was filled with excitement, apprehension, and anticipation. I once made the journey from Edinburgh, where we were on holiday, to London and back again in one day in order to attend a funeral. That day left me with a strong feeling, which I can still feel, that I was living at the wrong end of the line. MacCaig, a Scot to his toenails, was clear that for him Edinburgh was the right end of the line. He anticipates the train crossing the border and captures the paradox of trains—that is traveling at 70 mile per hour (faster now) but only creeping towards home. We have no doubt…