Northern California
Oroville
Somewhere between my first walk and first bike,
Apa asks if I have integrity
and can withstand an overflow.
Teams spend days surveying the damage
and label me a mess.
and label me a mess.
One day I’ll have to run the shop and elder
until I can’t elder anymore.
until I can’t elder anymore.
The curse of seeing a spillway
and only visualizing me.
and only visualizing me.
Boys taller than me warned
not to meet the river at its mouth.
not to meet the river at its mouth.
The reservoir insists I write a song
for my breaking.
for my breaking.
I buckled,
and the valley below now knows why Apa cried
in fallow fields.
and the valley below now knows why Apa cried
in fallow fields.
