St Mary Overie*

To Mary over the ferry
a single ticket taken,
to press the features into the pale
beyond the body of this water.

To Slut Lane let him be carried
a pilgrim by the boatman,
led by the spill of the vapour trail
and the milky way’s stigmata.

To Mary over the ferry
a single ticket taken :
to Veronica her sky print veil,
to the water woman a daughter.

*The parish church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie (later Southwark Cathedral), located in an area traditionally best known for its brothels