in california this year the dams overflowed.
the weight of a wet winter
stomping down four years of drought
passed beyond the pale of safety.
oroville evacuated
ran to the high places
and looked back
lot’s wife be damned.
the rains end, the concrete holds
weeks of wet, desperate work
spit in the teeth of gravity
fore-planning and hard work prevail.
we are the water
we are the dam
we are the locals
who fled to high ground
who waited for the world to end
and hoped that it wouldn’t