Tide Mark

Life goes on…


Everything is up from way down here,

below the pier.
The wooden pilings, iron filings,
coal and coral,
Rotten cabbage, cats gone feral,
putrid sewerage.

Dropouts drop in to scout for salvage,

hidden treasure.
Hypodermics,
kit and caboodle,
Newgate sweepings, old pot noodle.

All left above the watermark,

from East End
Docklands National Park.

Alright below
the low-tide line
which doesn’t touch the Sepentine.

And yet to the kids around St Paul’s
it’s really
just the beach;
The shit-hole, hell hole,
no-holds-barred
that we call
Blackfriars’ Reach.

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mikeverdi

Brilliantly composed, darkly entertaining. I loved it.
Mike

sweetwater

Loved the way it reads, the rhyming is perfect. This reminds me of the pictures one sees of Victorian children hunting along the shore. Sue.

pronto

Sounds like exactly the place to avoid mate. Thanks for the warning. Very vivid images conjured here.

griffonner

Really enjoyed this, Franciman. 😀