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The Day the World Got Smaller

Mike Garry and
Phoenix Primary School

 

Mike Garry

Mike Garry is a poet based in Manchester. Originally starting off as a librarian he was encouraged to take part in live poetry events and slams by his Library's homework centre. His poetry is regularly heard on TV and radio and he was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Education for his poetry and work with young people.

mikegarry.co.uk

 

Phoenix Primary School

Phoenix Primary School is based on Birchfield Road, in Kensington, Liverpool. The school strives to provide an enjoyable and excellent education for children aged 3-11. Mike Garry worked with Miss Reed's year 5 class.

phoenixprimaryliverpool.co.uk

The day the world got smaller

Two cities bound

Two cities tied by tarmac, water and railway lines

Two industrious cities

That paved the way

To making this world what it is today

Through industry, culture

Through shipping and art

We built bridges

We were there from the start

We lit flames

We broke down borders

We made this enormous world much smaller

Those men with pens did chart gods earth

And men with horses shifted dirt

And rock and stone and mud and boulder

They smashed through mountains

They walked on water

Cast iron girders built bridges high

Red brick viaducts disappeared into the sky

And they claimed they could make iron horses fly

Make men and women pass through time

And they claimed they could dig a hole so deep into the ground

That a Rocket could explode with carriages abound

Passing silently under villages and towns

Without a whisper or a single sound

But the biggest quandary and the toughest job

Was how to lay tracks across a 5 mile bog

And how to get a train across

Without sinking and drowning all those aboard

Heads were scratched and wise men and women worked

Redrawing plans and scanning the earth

They wanted so much for this train to be the first

To carry men and women to work

And not just carry mail or coal

They wanted human beings and living souls

To travel and adventure

To become explorers

They made this enormous world much smaller

And on that famous September day

Crowds lined the route all along the way

And it’s claimed that an amazing band did play

“See the conquering hero come”

and that he did for at the station

was the valiant Duke of Wellington

Who had just defeated Napoleon

at the battle of Waterloo

And he sat in a carriage of ornamental gold

With a crimson canopy that sat high above

And laurel leaves of the victorious

on rich golden scrolls

And the soldiers cleared the crowds from along the tracks

And coal was loaded sack after sack

And the poorer people sat at the back

In carriages of wood

“It’ll never make it”

Someone cried

With all these people crammed inside

With tunnels, bridges and mountains to climb

Disaster is Guaranteed

And yes, one carriage did derail

But those aboard lived to tell the tale

Of how one wheel did run astray

But not a single soul was hurt

But at mid-point on the line

Locomotives stopped for a while

To take on water as advised

By the Engineers

But a crowd alighted onto the track

Ignoring the pleas of the railway staff

At the moment a rocket passed

AND HUSKISSON WAS KILLED

An MP OF GREAT REPUTE

Had just shook the hand of the honourable duke

But a train approached at speed and he failed to move

A great orator was lost

But this great occasion could not be marred

So the crowd re-boarded the railway car

And soon that train did slow depart

To Manchester and beyond

But the next and greatest challenge was Chat Moss

A vast and empty sinking bog

And how to get this train across

Without drowning all aboard

But it crossed Chat Moss on floating planks

And it weighed as much as 100 tanks

And men women and kids all shouted thanks

To the skilful engineers

And on she continued to Liverpool road

Through driving winds and a black sky storm

She arrived not racing but at a crawl

The journey had been done

A train full of people had travelled all the way

City to city

History was made

It was Liverpool and Manchester day

It was the day the world got smaller

And within a year new rails were laid

And on it went everyday

Line after line and train after train

Through Europe Asia and the USA

People travelling for work people travelling for play

And people came to us from across the globe

Growing families

Making new homes

And we welcomed them with open arms

because that’s what we do

Two cities bound

Two cities tied by tarmac, water and railway lines

Two industrious cities

That paved the way

To making this world what it is today

Through industry, culture

Through shipping and art

We built bridges

We were there from the start

We lit flames

We broke down borders

We made this enormous world much smaller

Mike Garry
The Day the World Got Smaller
Mike worked with a year 5 class at Phoenix Primary School to write a poem about the Liverpool and Manchester railway.
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