The Saturday Poem: Old Father Thames

by John Agard

Old Father Thames
of the flowing patriarchal locks
See how the Ganges still breathes

in your West India docks.
See how the Nile's distant kiss
still finds the cheeks of your metropolis

Old Father Thames
Empire's wrinkles etch your tide.
About time you reclaimed your feminine side.

Try laying down your trident, old chap.
Take the weight of anchors and maps
from off your monumental head.

Have a good squat, old Father Thames.
Squat on your dark silted bed
till birth screams of changing winds

turn you midwife to a new beginning.

From Travel Light Travel Dark published by Bloodaxe Books. RRP £9.95