Stop #4: Weott
The town is gone, washed out in
the Christmas Flood of '64,
when the river
in which they fished,
in which they swam,
in which they paddled tin canoes-
the south fork of the Eel-
next to which they built bonfires,
next to which they kissed
while the moon kissed the river,
down which they sent logs to the mill,
over which they built the bridge,
next to which they built the town
described as bustling that December
when it rained for days and the river
rose 33 feet above the highway
and took what it wanted, and
it wanted nearly everything, and left just
the sidewalks which you can still
find if you look hard enough
and are schooled in the ways
of persistence and memory.
Gillian Wegener has had poetry published or forthcoming in Spillway, Packinghouse Review, In Posse, and Sow's Ear. Her first full-length collection of poetry, The Opposite of Clairvoyance was published in 2008 by Sixteen Rivers Press. She lives in Modesto where she hosts the monthly 2nd Tuesday Reading Series and has recently been appointed Modesto, CA poet laureate.
The town is gone, washed out in
the Christmas Flood of '64,
when the river
in which they fished,
in which they swam,
in which they paddled tin canoes-
the south fork of the Eel-
next to which they built bonfires,
next to which they kissed
while the moon kissed the river,
down which they sent logs to the mill,
over which they built the bridge,
next to which they built the town
described as bustling that December
when it rained for days and the river
rose 33 feet above the highway
and took what it wanted, and
it wanted nearly everything, and left just
the sidewalks which you can still
find if you look hard enough
and are schooled in the ways
of persistence and memory.
Gillian Wegener has had poetry published or forthcoming in Spillway, Packinghouse Review, In Posse, and Sow's Ear. Her first full-length collection of poetry, The Opposite of Clairvoyance was published in 2008 by Sixteen Rivers Press. She lives in Modesto where she hosts the monthly 2nd Tuesday Reading Series and has recently been appointed Modesto, CA poet laureate.
