old man seawards by simeon psimian

here at southend-on-sea
where we used to walk with you
on the sand & the mud & the clay
that an ancient science
said we were all made out of

and here at southend-on-sea
my old man
old man river
old father thames
and old father time
all flow together
relentlessly into the same old sea
the same old sea that modern science
which is the widely believed in religion on earth today
says we all crawled out of
a million mothers and fathers agogogo forth
multiply and divide
add and subtract
direct and redact
reflect and refract
construct and conscript
inspect and depict and project and collect and corrupt

and here at southend-on-sea
now we scatter your ashes
on the low-tide mud
for the eternally recurring
returning tide to take