Spring Waters

Every spring the river floods,
And carries towards the dikes
Waters unwanted.

Before we built these walls
Were there such things as floods,
Or do the walls give the waters
Their name.

What was once cause and effect,
A natural cycle,
Becomes a force of nature,
A wash of destruction
And ruin, a devastator of
Lives, lives which knew
So much as to build the
Dikes, yet be upset at needing them.

Before we coined the word,
Did floods exist?
Does our expectation of them,
Our preparation for them
Make them more real than they
Ever used to be?

My feet are as wet as yours,
And will likely have to walk in
The muds of summer before
Time is taken to reflect –
Though by then we will likely
Have forgotten – again –
And be busy building
For next spring.


PrioriThought 2009