Dusk in the Woods

DUSK IN THE WOODS
by Peter Alistair

The dam is shattered!
The floodgates are broken.
Lo! the river swells.
Brackish water turns
into raging white.
Deafening roar, mighty roar;
a terrible rumbling against
what could have been a
glorious dusk!

The forest teems with
creatures that could use
a peaceful night--
nothing beyond the usual
clash of prey and predator;
nothing beyond the musical
footfalls of the nocturnals
surveying the leaf-strewn,
root-entangled forest floor.

But behold!
The ravaging river,
pure destruction
in its wake.
It leaves no rock unturned,
no tree rooted,
no bones unbroken,
no death forgone.
The fleeting doe
and the vicious panther
both run from the surge
of the cold, unforgiving river.

Then--
look, up there!
Wings take off from
crashing trees, just in
time to flee the
river's death clutch.

When rivers rage,
only the winged survive.