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Well, its not totally lost. Its kind of strange because it wanders from the countryside and through a park and then disappears beneath the Mall. MG ----- Original Message ----- From: "Patrick McManus" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 3:55 PM Subject: Re: snap: The Mall, Maidstone > 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.'