A Reversal of Fortune
so this is what you feared most
in that final hour
the flow of rivers reversed
water abandoned what
you were certain was
the inevitable journey to the sea
ascended steps at dams
coursed up slopes
climbed back to glacial peaks
streams returned
to their sources
in the foothills
to the depths
of clear cold lakes
wetlands swelled
into long shimmering pools
intimate and mighty with the sky
it was good
and as the
seas drained
and the dry depths
of the great oceans
appeared before us
we found again
what we thought
was lost
it was time
the lords
the owners of
the web
declared
it all to be
an illusion
an artificial intelligence
a clever sharpening
of the pixels
but we knew better
we allowed ourselves to see
what our eyes beheld
we permitted our ears to hear
the words from
these river daughters
from our sisters
pouring over
with the reservoir’s ascent
and when the
tides had once more turned
and the waters broke
we bore witness
in the final moments
of that hour
to the wave
declaring with
all its power
enough
enough