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Running alongside the Mersey
I follow the beam of my head torch
Between Stockport and Didsbury
Listening to the cacophony of birds
It would be beautiful and enjoyable
if the Mersey didn't resemble a decomposed body
Its colours mimic an overdiluted cappuccino
which is also poisoned and smells
You can see the waste on trees and bushes
They are like grotesque Christmas Trees
Adorned with condoms and garments
Leftover from the latest floods
Rubbish and garbage everywhere
Paper, plastic, clothes, and baskets dangle from the bushes
And the water reeks of sewage
The Mersey could symbolise capitalism
Just one facet of this civilisation's dark side
It is a witness and victim of humanity's folly
Its filthy, polluted waters resemble blood
A long, deep wound it bears
Buildings and industrial areas embrace it.
Farms poison it
While human waste, sewage, and grime
Continuously infiltrate its body
It represents human egoism and consumerism.
I follow my head torch's light
I am sprinting
It diminishes my frustration
No disappointment and no upset
I have got used to this
in Manchester...
Where river pollution is the norm
It's as if it's a fetish of this city
Waste is omnipresent
All other rivers are similar
Baskets, tyres, furniture, plastic
In murky flows, they are hidden
In this city-sized waste bin.