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 has spread like a
lake, a pool, an ocean
as it crosses the fields

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

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

Even from the safety of my car
it’s frightening to see
the vast wetness that’s flushing
farms and fields
next to Greenville Highway.

~ Robin J. Phillips Feb. 7, 2020