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Ottawa River flooding, 2019
here I sit, abandoned
by those who claimed to love me
my lake enlarged to mimic
the late Champlain Sea
swelled by melting snows
the river, wide already, slipped
over its banks, heading for the road
as if to escape all bounds
in other years, I have seen
waves break on my pillars
and concrete steps, but never
reach inside to coat my walls
and floors with mud; last week
my windowsills awash
my floors sank nearly a metre below
the river-lake’s surface
your feet are still dry
you leave me here to wait out
winter’s ire and spring’s passion
this year you will be sorry
for you have not stored things you value
out of the water’s reach
power tools, furniture, fridge and stove
beds and blankets – all ruined
I will grow mold, and slime
my pillars may not hold
my future is uncertain
but for now, I sit surrounded
by Lac Deschênes,
soggy-rooted trees mirrored round me
waiting to greet you
when the waters recede
Adrienne Stevenson lives in Ottawa, Canada. A retired forensic scientist, she writes poetry and prose. Her work has appeared in over fifty print and online journals and anthologies in Canada, USA, UK, Europe, Australia. When not writing, Adrienne tends a large garden, reads voraciously, and procrastinates playing several musical instruments.