There is that moment when the barrier comes down

on Station Road, when the train to Howth has passed

and nothing happens; when the men in lycra vests

and shorts on their blade-thin wheels look round

and through each other; when the yummy mums

with their dozy, school-bound offspring by their sides

or trussed up in the seats behind like dolls,

glance down one more time to check the time;

when the very birds up on that ever slack

tangle of cables shuffle two steps left

or one step right; when the sea retreats

and only sunlight advances along the track;

when something in the chest unlocks or shifts,

and you find you’re no longer waiting; when the barrier lifts.

Pat Boran, author of The Next Life, presents The Poetry Programme on RTÉ Radio 1.