31 AUGUST 1991, Page 24

Train Window Reflection

Angel-faced reflection in the window, You have tempted me to glance at the passenger Sitting opposite: she is a grandmother of sixty... But you, placid reflection with no trace Of those deep wrinkles, of the lines of life On the woman you reflect, are a messenger Saying her soul, if it exists, must be Like you, transparent phantom, angel-face.

Edward Lowbury