An Aged, Bitter Collection of Poetry, Prose, & Papers

Thames (Version One)

Frothing, angry, maddening

I took a step towards the edge

Peered over into my fear

Opaque and vile,

Tainted with a long history of death

When civilization rose,

Built a peoples around the great river

It was a life source

Corruption, the natural progression of populous

Corpse after corpse, waste upon waste

Coat the bed upon which it roars

Ancient gems, infant bones, rubbish

Any creature that could thrive in those waters would be terrifying

And I am numb

I imagine myself jumping, like so many others

The sheer force of the water would drag me under

I would struggle fruitlessly

For the first and only time I would know true desperation

But I know myself

I would give up and let the water carry me as the air tightens

Captive in my throat,

Strangling from the inside

Betrayal burns and burns

I would ride the current,

Weightless and just as in control as I've ever been

Let go, my last breath

Those bubbles break the surface

But I've gone

Frothing, angry, maddening

How many times can you watch yourself die?

And I step away from the edge

Return to the bustle of solid ground

But I remember dying,

Remember every time I see that river

Frothing

And I think, why don't you write a fucking poem, you absolute sap?!

Angry

Go on, write a fucking poem

Maddening

(5 June 2015)