RIVER
October 30th 2022 - RIVER
malevolent slug
sulking
cowering
brown and bloated
just below the rocks now
lurking lapping
seething with intent
snarling
gurgling discontent
muscular
bald inked vigilante
with a shottie
nutjob
engorged and venomous
python poised to strike
coiled to slither
brutal force
deadly river
what fun it had last week!
what joy
what chaos
and what rapture
broke free it did
went mad
went apeshit
drunk on power
rolling over footpaths
to the meadow
surfing to the road
to the traffic
to the fence
‘here’s Johnny!’
in the light of dawn
surfing up your driveway
pushing wide your door
unwelcomed
puddling your floor
and filling
like a bathtub
swirling churning
spewing forth
destruction
chilling
pissing loss up plaster walls
dumping mud in your sad face
uneasy calm now
almost all the wreckage cleared
I crest the hill
and see the creature
glistening still
loitering with intent
in ponds and lakes
where there were no lakes
before
see the serpent
course upstream
tumble-turning
at the Heights
double-backing to the bay
controlled now
but not really
this lethal weapon calls the shots
not you or me
or any levee
or some wall
the river was here first
before its depths
were poisoned
by us
stacked with stolen cars
and fridges
handguns
bodies
bikes
and bones
and pus
I grew up on the Rhine
I picnicked on the Wye
the Thames
on rivers where you paddled
swam
went boating
fished for minnows
jam-jarred tadpoles
this is not that kind of waterway
this one will take your life away
it rools
this is its domain
and how dare we
park our sorry house-like arses
on its treacherous terrain
last week showed us
where we stand
up to our necks
in dark brown
stain.