Our lost rivers! -London has it's share
P
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of morning glory
Sent: 11 August 2010 13:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: snap: The Mall, Maidstone
'I hope your not thinking of jumping in', she says
'No', I say, 'I'm just taking photographs'
I'm wedged in the recess of the concrete stairwell
looking down at a triangle of black water
a shopping trolley is half submerged
She is paused on the steps, a Sainsbury's shopping bag in one hand
'Look', I say, 'can you see the way the light makes patterns'
It reminds me of the chocolate ripples in Viennetta ice-cream
But I don't say that part out loud.
'Yes, I can see that', she says, 'but it smells so bad'
'Yes', I say
'I don't know if you know Maidstone', she says
'That's the river Len. They built this all over it'
'Yes, I know', I say
The river flows beneath the bus station and the shopping centre
late 70's brutalist concrete
'I was born just up the river', she says
'We used to play along the banks before all this was built.
Sometimes we used to jump right in.'
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