Before l Go

by Mike Bell29 April 2021

I’d have to use BlackfriarsBridge – London – if askedto name it [I cannot recallwhen I last crossed by it] –

I swam benign widths [inmy day] – slipping grassybanks in Surrey – My lastview would be of a tower

with OXO emblazoned onit [as I drank gravy-brownwater – best spat out – butnot optional if drowning] –

I would have climbed up aparapet & jumped with myarms flung wide – crucifiedby that drop – not killed by

that shock of cold water onmy body from muddy flowsof crumbled cubes – sent toa cool morgue by drowning