Click the play button above to hear me read this poem.
Yellow River
Leaves rained down for days
until the front yard was flooded
drenched in color by a yellow river
from the thunder cloud trees above
With each gust of wind
more leaves lapped at the edges
of the flower beds and porch steps
Frothy yellow waves billowed about
Squirrels and little dogs
first waded and then swam across it
struggling not to drown
not to be pulled under in the eddying swirls
A rake parted the river
like the raised rod of Moses
channeling the leaves
down to the street
The curbs of the street,
breaker walls,
strain now to hold back the leaves
The wind persists
sending them back
in yellow waves
over the top
over the top
over the top
of the too small concrete dam
