After three days of rain
the river now owns
the fields
next to Greenville Highway.

It’s called the French Broad
on summer days when I float
down ten miles, under three bridges
to where the van picks us up.

Broad is too small a word today.
The river’s spread like a
lake, pool, ocean
as it crosses the fields

Threatens the highways
takes over parking lots
cutting through the
Southern Appalachians

Running south to north, like the Nile,
racing waters have slowed
and spread and soaked
everything in her way.

It’s kind of frightening to see
the vast wetness that’s flushing
farms and fields
next to Greenville Highway.

~ Robin J. Phillips Feb. 7, 2020