Thursday Thoughts
03 May 2018
On Water
In the seventy-fourth year of my life,
sitting on the car in Mactaquac Park,
waiting for my wife to walk down the slope
to where I’m writing, a warm wind today,
sunshine, the river still rising, more rain
called for tonight, another inch or more,
that’s twenty to thirty millimeters,
you can hear from here the restless waters
powering the dam’s dynamos, creating
great creamy waves to wash over coffee
colored waters fathered upriver with
their splintered debris wafted from waters
still gathering strength in the north where snow
melts steadily while the stormy sky builds
clouds, and weathermen forecast thunderstorms
yet to descend and overflow our streams:
sitting safely I fear for those downstream
who deal with flooded basements, water pumps,
animals in distress, destruction come,
no sanctuary save in flight, wood, mortar,
brick promising no safety, no respite
from rising waters and eternal rain.
Commentary:
In the great flood of 1973, we lived on the Woodstock Road in Fredericton. We watched the river waters rising. Luckily they stopped on the other side of the road from where we were living and didn’t cross the road. This year we live out of town on the other side of the hill away from the river. Each time we drive into town we see the river waters and measure how they rise. Our hearts go out to those folk who are forced to evacuate their homes. We find it hard to believe that the waters are now at the levels they reached in 1973 and may, in some places, exceed those levels by a meter or more.
Next weekend, Word Spring, the spring meeting of the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick, is scheduled to take place in Quispamsis. Yesterday, the people of Quispamsis found themselves on flood alert and were told to prepare for instant evacuation. It rained last night and more rain is expected. While it may not rain here in Island View, the catchment area of the St. John River, the Rhine of North America, is enormous. Any rain falling in the north of the province may affect the river. The snow is still melting from the deep woods and clear cutting along the river banks has, according to some, affected the ground’s ability to retain water.
All in all, a difficult situation and one that is forecast to last for another week or ten days. More details can be found here:
rogermoorepoet 
I loved the poem, and I am sending my best wishes to that community. My family comes from Southwestern Wisconsin in a town that sits along the Mississippi River. This poem resonated.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Tanya. Becky, my daughter, worked in Madison, at the university, for five years, and I went there to give a conference paper and to visit her. I loved the area, especially the lakes. We went to the head pond at Mactaquac yesterday. Clare went for a walk and I sat on the car listening to the roar of the waters rushing through the dam. Water levels have steadied in Freddy, but the crest is moving downstream where water levels are really high and way above flood levels.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope the people of the community are safe and that perhaps the rains will not come to fruition!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The waters seem to be settling now and the crest of the flood is moving downstream. The CBC clip in the link shows the town (Freddy) and the flooding along the river. Not as bad as 1973, and the post ’73 flood defenses holding out well. I think we’ll be able to go to Quispamsis in a week. The waters should be down by then.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah that is a relief! I will check out the link.
LikeLiked by 1 person