Floodwaters Run by Jennifer Lagier

For five years, we lived
in a sunny California fairytale
of ongoing drought.
Little fog, insignificant rainfall.
Each day progressively
brighter and drier.
Water rationing, empty reservoirs,
parched forests poised
to go up in a flash.

Now skies open, inundate us
with deluge, unending storms.
Hillsides slide into ocean.
Sinkholes devour undermined roads.
Debris flows carry charred redwoods,
wildfire ash into deepening canyons.
Rivers violate ancient beds,
overflow.

We fill sandbags,
evacuate pets and livestock,
curse malevolent weather,
move anything of value
to higher ground.

Jennifer Lagier has published thirteen books, taught with California Poets in the Schools, co-edits the Homestead Review, helps coordinate Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium readings. Newest books: Scene of the Crime (Evening Street Press), Harbingers (Blue Light Press), Camille Abroad (FutureCycle Press). Forthcoming: Like a B Movie (FutureCycle Press, 2018). Website: : : Poetry by Jennifer Lagier : : 