Old Memories Came Flooding Poem by RIC BASTASA

old memories came flooding
like overflowing waters from the mountain
rivers came running
wood drifting
some snakes astray
losing direction
leaves too many
for the keeping of the banks
some twigs block
the way of the fish
and the frogs

i am one kind of a very strong damn
i have prepared for these calamities for years
of my silence and storing stones and lime
and steel to make these
uncompromising obstruction

things stop and i am responsible
for anything that destroys and spills
i am this dam and i will stay so calm