A Dry Land Poem by RIC BASTASA

this used to be a river
filled with fish
we used to catch some here

days and years
lump together and humans
pack up

rivers convert themselves
to cities for need of space

this one shall follow
it is not the sun that has
taken what it has

a tractor builds a dike
and takes all the water here

this is dry land
no fish, no water,
no moss, sand is filled
and rocks
delivered to make
out of this river
a new housing subdivision
at a higher cost
than money