The mighty River Rea

Seasons, senses & self: Day 17

They were paddling in pairs in the Rea
On a beautiful summery day.
So if you live in Brum
Why not join in the fun?
Just hitch up your glad rags and wade!

For this is our glorious river –
You can stuff your Thames and your Tiber!
It washes our city –
Inspires many ditties
(Not least this brief littery dribble).*

Rea ripples like speech and its tones
Are quiet, its sentences honed
By bridges and weirs
And brick walls engineered
To channel our life in its bones.

______
* Don’t you mean pseudo-literary drivel? – Ed.

Seasons, Senses & Self: a daily series

Weir on small river. Green trees in background.

Photo: Roy Hughes(Creative Commons: some rights reserved)

Back to County Limerick today 😉 (see this post). But the River Rea is a stream in Birmingham (see Tributaries of the River Tame). It flows from a muddy hollow in the Waseley Hills, past the cricket stadium and the Custard Factory, to join the River Tame near Spaghetti Junction.