Local Goddess

Sitting on the riverbank and watching the sunset.
I daydream as the sun sinks below the horizon.
Watching the dancing rivulets of water, as the river flows
shining golden and sparkling in the evening light.

The river meanders on townwards.
The hungry river that has swallowed many a life
of people playing on this riverbank.
I wonder about those lives lost.
swallowed by this local deity.

I sit and look into the deep, brown water.
Thinking with sadness how those
who were dragged into these murky depths
must have felt.
And the heartbreak of those left behind.

Rising upwards with ferocious speed
she floods our little town.
We think we are the ones in control...
The waters break the riverbanks
and take, take whatever is in her path.

It is not to play without respect
with this local goddess who weaves her way
through our town.
For her power is awesome.
And she is ever hungry for more.

Helen Caladhiel.