In these cold waters
Low mist lying across
the Thames at Erith
a wide stretch known
to Daniel Defoe
no warmth in these waters
where bream and perch
and pike and roach
and rudd and carp
and gudgeon live out
their cold-blooded lives
Between October and January
salmon may be seen
heading upriver
to Hampton Court
and rainbow trout
are known to spawn
in the Wandle
at Croydon
A Siberian sturgeon
that had lost its way
was once caught
at Dartford provoking
rare excitement
among devotees
John Lyons