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...discover the Maritime Histories of UK Port Cities

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Local poetry and creative writing competition

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Writing poetry

The Creek ending at Deptford Road Bridge. © NMM

If you have enjoyed reading the winning entries for the River of Words poetry competition and you feel inspired to write your own verses about the Thames and its tributaries, send your entries to PortCities London at: portcities@nmm.ac.uk.

Below is a Deptford Creek poem sent to the PortCities team by one of the website's users.

Creek

The sun fights through the emerald water,
Gracefully curving between sediment banks.
Ducks dip their heads in search of food, falter
And build their homes in shopping trolleys and old planks.
Discarded waste piles up against holed boats,
Skeletal, on banks, waiting to sink below,
Clinging by overgrown shrubs, barely afloat.
But alongside bleak decay springs a fine show
Of ebony barges, fresh-painted, steady,
Crammed with cargo, soaring through mud and silt.
The road bridge lifts for them to go to sea.
They can stop the traffic, flags flying, fine-built.
So this green world changes week by week:
Trade and wildlife bring hope to Deptford Creek.

Annie Lincoln

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Glossary

Cargo

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Deptford Creek

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