The River of Egypt
They build a dam of sandstone blocks –
Manganese washed from the rocks
Turns the run a bloody brown
So that the snakes and minnows drown
Ferns, the pool where minnows swim
A summer refuge cool and dim
Red and sterile now until
The engineers have flushed the fill
But if the stream were flushed with blood
As human rage is wont to do
Who will remove the stain, or could?
Who will the damaged world renew?
Pavel
October 9, 2011
