Toll Men
there is a small stone bridge between two towns that has a two man toll both. 5p to pass. two old guys sit side by side - one with a liverpool fc cap, love on the knuckles and status quo in the soul - his colleague is made of gravel and fingers fixed in a heavy crane claw. we wonder how much they make - a plastic cup of 5 pence pieces - £100 a day? £500 a week? we joke that they blow the £500 each weekend on booze, drugs and women. and then monday morning arrives. They meet at the toll box. Each at their own doors. the river black with a milky mist head. and it starts again with a single 5 pence piece dropped in to a strip joint paper cup.