Downstream

portrayed as a place both
majestic and dangerous,
refreshing and polluted. It is
father – or grandfather –
Thames when noble or
particularly chilly; it is
mother Thames when tranquil
and offering a watery
embrace. People have drunk
from it, washed and fished in
it, and used it to dispose of
every sort of waste. It has
been a highway, a boundary
and a food store, home to