I was a river

I was a river

Swift was my flow

Turbulent were the shallows

Fast and furious

The underlying current

Tumbling over rocks

Undermining

Granite outcrops

In endless pursuit

Of majesty

A relentless progression

Etched into

The earth

A cataract of kinetic energy

In a blind

Of environmental

Interaction

Fiercely fine

A force-majeure

A natural phenomenon

Irrepressible

Unstoppable

Too big to ignore

Curbed, corralled

Dammed

I am a reservoir

Of old stories

Whispered in the trees

Carried to the sea

In the genes of Salmon

They will never forget

The way home

Even though it

Be that much harder

To follow

The river is dry

The bed newly laid

As a precinct

With an aqueduct

For runoff

I was a river

All I am now

Is a drain.