News Forecast on Forthcoming Tsunami

 
your children are the rice sacks saved for winter—

keep them safely enclosed for the time being

before the water recedes over your doorstep

& over you & trucks sway outside your window

like overworked water buffalo        even rice

can become a commodity in times like this—

see the stripped shelves at the lawson’s

& the water will reach your knees

& the water will reach your shoulders

& the water will sweep over your head like a taxi

& the debris will dress your waist like a skirt

& the dogs will bark until they drown

in the window of a forgotten kimono shop

 
 
 

Meg Eden's work is published or forthcoming in magazines including Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest, Poet Lore, RHINO and CV2. She teaches creative writing at the University of Maryland. She has five poetry chapbooks, and her novel "Post-High School Reality Quest" is published with California Coldblood, an imprint of Rare Bird Books. Find her online at www.megedenbooks.com or on Twitter at @ConfusedNarwhal.