Because The River Becomes An Ocean, Goring
Because I’ll pick my heart off the floor,
send it downriver
Because I’ll lose the crowd,
float in that here and gone rhythm of river
Because this year I’ll save myself from tears,
become river-horizon, ocean-river
GORING
The singer and song writer George Michael lived on the banks of the Thames at Goring as an ordinary resident and neighbour. This short poem collages a few phrases (including the title) from some of his most popular songs.
Goring is situated on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire and features the Goring Gap which sits within both The Chilterns and North Wessex Downs Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Its banks forming the border of Oxfordshire and Berkshire (one in each county). It’s rural setting also places it at the intersection of The Ridgeway, Icknield Way and Thames Path.
The village faces the village of Streatley across the Thames. The two villages are connected by Goring and Streatley Bridge and its adjacent lock and weir.
As well as providing inspiration to Three Men in a Boat and Wind in the Willows, in 1893, Oscar Wilde stayed at Ferry House in Goring with Lord Alfred Douglas and began writing his play An Ideal Husband, which includes a major character named Lord Goring.
