Railway stations have been the sites of anger and outrage recently, but a poet from Biggleswade is trying to brighten up people’s journeys.

The Comet: A poetry box for commuters has been added to the ticket office at Biggleswade train station. Picture: Leah StewartA poetry box for commuters has been added to the ticket office at Biggleswade train station. Picture: Leah Stewart (Image: Archant)

Performance poet Leah Stewart organised the Biggleswade Poetry Table, and has decided to place a poetry box at the town’s railway station for commuters to pick up a poem on their travels.

“Before the very first Biggleswade Poetry Table, I placed a box of poems at the train station with the kind permission of the ticket office manager,” she told the Comet.

“The box has been there on and off since January this year.

“At first it was an experiment to see if anyone would notice or care about picking up a poem for their journey. What might happen if poems were easy to pick up? Might they make a difference to a person I’ve never met in this community we share?

“As a performance poet I’ve seen first-hand how poems can stir and move people. As a regular commuter I know the feeling of scrolling online feeds for something distracting to pass the time.

“I hoped these poems might at least serve as a novel distraction for travellers.”

The poems appear to be going down well.

An anonymous person has added a selection of work to the box, and there have been some positive social media comments about the box.

“The first written feedback I got on the ‘Biggleswade Poetry Table’ Facebook page was ‘an inspired idea, thank you. I wanted to take all of them, so I took a photo and put them back’,” said Leah.

“With this encouragement I kept topping up the box as more poems were taken.

“I’m delighted poems have been added because it means this little space is being noticed and the community are taking ownership of a new opportunity for sharing poems.

“Adding poems is in the spirit of the Biggleswade Poetry Table, which is all about people sharing poems that have meaning to them with others.”

Leah would like to see more poems being taken by people from the box in the Biggleswade station ticket office.

“The poetry box is there as an offering,” she said.

“The poem may entertain for one journey or have significance for a stage in a person’s life journey.”