Potholes
and roots
You’d never presume to tell a river it can water only one tree,
has to choose wisely and stay there,
become a lake supporting boats, maybe just a pond, or worst of all,
a vast, shiny puddle obscuring a pothole, a shallow jagged one
that damn near tears your wheel off the axle,
knocking your front end out of alignment,
the sediment from beneath rising, the gloss disturbed, becoming muddy when the dirt
swirls into the surface. Doesn’t take long—no depth to navigate.
Maybe that pothole was born of ice, or maybe, just maybe,
that river-fed tree kicked up its roots,
knocking a hole in that asphalt smothering it,
and when the rain fell, it drank its fill,
leaving a pitfall of destruction
for anyone who forgets
when to swerve.
Meanwhile, the river flows,
feeding the trees.
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a subversive weirdo nerd witch who loves rocks. Intrusive rhyme bothers me. Some of my fiction may have provoked divorce proceedings in another state.😈
My words are mine. Suggest ai use and get eviscerated.
MA English literature, CofC
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Paul and John's 47-Words Short Story Unofficial Challenge
UPDATE - Republished to update the list of entries, with the 40 we've had so far. Completely smashed last unofficial challenge which recieved 31 entries. And there is still time. If you have yet to enter and fancy winning a bit of money or just challenging yourself or both or just making two old geezers job harder - please enter!
By Paul Stewart6 days ago in Writers
Comments (3)
I love this, beautiful musings that you just let roam freely, but with a real cohesive feel to it all. As you know, I'm a big lover of trees and water like you, so this really appealed and sung to me. Well done, lass. Very well done.
We have so many potholes here in TN that they are trying to pass a bill Pot for potholes. Where it would be legal to sell cannabis and the roads would be fixed from the sales of it. Great poem, and I am with what Paul said, it doesn't need anything else. Perfect the way it is.
I think this is just brilliant the way it is, but that's just me. I mean, so much is said here in such a beautiful way. I love when trees and rivers have the final say! You just have such a grip on form and words. I could see reading this in a poem anthology and not doubting at all why it's there.