A splendid ribbon of silken hemp

It traced so well the barges route,

Lined with rushes, nature kempt,

Mute swans her banks their coupe

Its way did traverse in silent glide

For decades did her body flow,

Such secrets did her darkness hide

Beneath her surface deep and low

The time, it passed irrelevant,

Oblivious to war and mortals passing,

Each season slowly came and went

Her banks caressed by waters’ kissing

Lovers walked her towpath ancient,

Hand in hand with dreams of future,

She saw them pass in gentle silence

Brief specks in time encased forever

Some years the rain did fill her wholly

Till over bank and path she spilled,

Then winter came with spikes of holly

Her surface crystal-like and stilled

I loved her; she was a symbol, patient,

A mark in time of things eternal,

Now, alas, her energy but spent,

She rests and begs a new revival 

Dan Elliott - 2007