THE SHOPPING TROLLEY

The bridge beside Jubilee Park
stands barred like a fortress.
It's reflection, broken up by the current below,
jiggles and dances on the surface of the water.
A woman with a dog
pauses here daily, to shake her head
while leaning over the railings
and peering into the water.
Her gaze shifts searchingly
until it alights upon the shopping trolley.
Occasionally,  she scrambles
down the river bank to reach it,
sliding fingers between the bars
now beginning to rust from contact with the water.
She attempts to pull it up
as she imagines again the group of teens
with their loud voices and manic behaviour
taking the trolley with them,
then shrieking with laughter as it falls from the bridge
with an almighty splash.

But, alas, her best efforts are ineffectual. The thick mud
of the river bed refuses to surrender it's prize.
The shiny, silver, alien treasure is just too great a status symbol...