unshaven

A roll call

of soft, white hills

her knees

coarse

unshaven

mountain ranges

upsetting

and unsettling the local

flora/fauna

shaking the flow

of a once steady stream

turning her into

a raging river

crashing over bends

and ill-prepared

beaver dams

with waters muddled

and sticks to break him

she floods

the lands too low

and it’s people cry:

“Oh, God!

Let her have what she will!

Take our land and our stock.

But Heavenly Father,

have mercy!

Let our loved ones go free!”

So they gathered their bundles

attached rusty kettle pots

that jangled their way

to the tops

of knees gone unshaven.