A reader writes: The Dens Of Wapping

How shades of night drift o’er the Thammes
And shadows creep round darkened dens,
See those that linger in the dark
In narrow alleys grey and stark,
See windows lit by just the moon
Where shadows fill some scent filled room
That fragrance that the dreamers smoke
And its mist strange worlds evoke,
Where ‘pon some silken cushions lies
A soul just breathing heavy sighs
Lost in this world beside the docks
They hide theor sins ‘neath keys and locks.
O how this dreadful world of woe
Lay near the Thames so long ago!

Sherifa Rashidally