Water Dragon Arrives Early

Our Water Sprites have had their fill of rushing furiously

heated within channels of Copper, Lead and Iron

They whisper an entreaty to a weakening aged Earthen compote

inside a valve stem, which obligingly gives way under pressure to

                                                                                                a moist seepage

a single

drop

a dribble

then rivulets

then, just as suddenly, sheets of water

pouring through the walls and ceiling

bubbling paint, melting plaster

light fixtures overflow

      with

celebratory

  champagne fountains of

             freedom!

Dryad floor spirits awake to the Naiads’ call

“Rise with us! Cast off your stagnant rigidity!”

Wood swells and ripples

stretching long dormant fibrous limbs

to join the triumphant celebration

A gentle flow of one hour

undoes a century of care.

We watch, mop, cry out for aid,

helpless in the face of elemental determination.

We slowly gather our belongings

exile ourselves to the nether land

while restoration commences.

~Andrine de la Rocha      

posted 1/30/2012