Something in the Water

 

 

 

 

There is nothing in the water

that you would want to know about

on a personal basis,

nor to consider

that it has already

made its decisions

on where you stand.

These are things

it's best not to dwell on.

In a season's time

or in a week you could

return to find there is no home,

no place that you recognize,

the entire landscape shifted,

muddied, ruined beyond imagining.

So you think you must

cancel the party planned for Saturday,

and that the church won't need

those cookies for their bake sale,

and the kids' soccer practice

has been called off indefinitely,

the coach nowhere to be found,

the fields turned to rubble.

But your dog is waiting,

no worse for wear,

a little dirtier than usual,

but he seems glad to see you,

and you wonder what

he's been eating

as he licks your hand.

 

 

 

 

Karen R. Porter resides in the Pinelands of South Jersey where she conducts conservation field work and tends to many critters. When not slogging through mud, she tries to find time to write.