My community is launching a series of community projects to commemorate the 150th anniversary of a horrific dam break that swept a wall of water and debris for miles, killing many people and destroying much of the communities in the flood’s wake.
A local group of historians and community members working on the events this entire month have created a fascinating StoryMap, and I am using pins on the map to inspire poems of remembering. The pins are based on time of day, and the unfolding of the disaster, hour by hour.
Mill River Flood: 7:30 am
No time even
to saddle his horse,
George Cheney fled
the mountain, quick,
galloping on a mission,
and still Onslow Spelman
wouldn’t listen,
still, he stood at the door
of his factory of buttons,
arguing the reality –
the dam was breaking
and disaster was coming,
far faster than George Cheney
ever could ride
Peace (and remembering),
Kevin