King Ludd of Fleet Street

Will Hatchett

Moving through the city sinuously
Artifacts are buried in its slime
In the river’s flux is your history
You're a carved effigy, frozen in time
A city rose up, slowly, from the mud
You watched each tide, each sacrifice of blood
Its long ages moved under your head
Ages of pestilence, fire and flood
From the underpass an echoing melody
Flows like water from a violin
Telling a story that moves through me
It breaks through the city’s grey skin
I observe your city, your blood, your bone
King Ludd, crumbling man of stone

King Ludd was the mythical founder of London. He is remembered in London place names such as Ludgate Circus on Fleet Street.