agile basin
The veşnic village lies below
The valley of earth’s stubborn scar,
Where river split the soil’s skin,
And brought the bedrock’s spirit out,
A joyous union of the sun
With cold endurance of the stone.
Homes within the veşnic village
Sit like grains of rice below,
The valley now their bowl
To hold their summers in their place,
And keep the frosty winds of night
Held far above the singing heads
Of blissful villagers gone bye.
The veşnic dam now holds
The river’s flow, whose cutting blades
Once tore the land asunder,
Held in place to settle still.
Imprisoned by the bulwark,
Sturdy cliff that sits strong overhead,
The mountain of the common folk,
The boulder to the ants.
The veşnic dam cracks open slowly,
Silent scratches on the chalk,
A sickness, like molasses, dripped
To fill the poison cup,
As the sigil of the people
Breaks away at snail’s pace,
Til at the end of time,
Their numbered days to wash away
In tidal floods,
The placid lake
to a ravenous river,
Conquering cruelly
its rightful home,
No longer held in place by stone
The veşnic people placed
In ancient times,
The rapids now to cut
The dirt away,
In natural order
Of twisted things.
random marsh