"A Portrait of a Slow-motion Water Crisis" by Elizabeth Porter

A Portrait of a Slow-motion Water Crisis

A thin brown line dragged against canvas / burnt umber / slick wet / salt / at what
cost do we long for the fossilized lime banks and body of Lake Mead / an oiled surface
/ an unholy medium over raw sienna grounds / brush strokes toward the focal point:
fish out of faucet / a limp desalinated trickle / scumble over the critical body loss while the absence of sun saps landscapes into grayscale / each corpse has been filtered out of the public water supply / 183 feet below full pool / a straight brush applies snowpack that promises to replenish but may evaporate first / move to fine details with a brush bristled with sable / finish with thirst.

Elizabeth Porter

Elizabeth Porter wanders, writes, and teaches middle school in south-central Pennsylvania. She has been an educator since 2020 and a ravenous consumer of poetry since her own middle-school days. Her work has been published by Jersey Devil Press and is forthcoming in Unbroken and Ballast.

Headshot: Elizabeth Porter

Photo Credit: Staff