by Melanie Choukas-Bradley
Shot on an angle by their dad from behind
My great niece and nephew stand in silence on a bridge over the Winooski River
Dressed for Taekwondo in red and white
Boy with hand on concrete rail, girl in form-ready pose
They are frozen in the video, like children in a painting
As the wild Winooski race-churns below, disregarding streets
Down from the mountains, wild brook to wild river, a New England water rodeo
Riding Vermont farm, village and town, with too much water from too much rain
Ten days ago their grandmother, my sister, texted a photo of Camel’s Hump
Wreathed in Canadian wildfire smoke, yesterday a video of her playful stream in murder mode
Tiny Vermont, in the climate crosshairs
Hill and hamlet no longer safe retreat
During Irene I watched the covered bridge of my childhood
Die an animal death on national television, falling wounded in seconds
I grew up drinking sap from the bucket
And long for the sweetness of Old Vermont
Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a naturalist and award-winning author of seven nature books, including City of Trees, A Year in Rock Creek Park, Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Islan,d and The Joy of Forest Bathing. She began writing poetry during the pandemic and has had several poems published by Beate Sigriddaughter’s Writing in a Woman’s Voice, including “How to Silence a Woman,” and “If I have loved you,” both of which won “Moon Prizes.” Earlier this year The New Verse News published her poem The Water Cooler following multiple mass shootings. Melanie grew up in Vermont wandering the woods and fields, and her heart aches for her family and friends who are dealing with catastrophic flooding in Vermont.