Notes
This is a series of short poems from my book Limen which documents an experience of being flood bound during a camping trip to a remote area.
The word ’limen’ comes from Greek and it refers to the dividing line between the air and the sea. It is a boundary word and during a flood, boundaries dissolve and you feel caught between the water and the air, never quite knowing which will prevail.
In a year when the effects of climate change have been pronounced – in Australia the last couple of years has seen devastating floods with thousands of houses destroyed and people evacuated, before that raging fires; in the northern hemisphere forest fires have resulted in the evacuation of huge numbers of people, in Canada mostly Native Americans. The fires across Europe have been equally devastating, especially around the Mediterranean.
This part of the sequence describes the lead up to the river creeping up silently during the night and resulting in the campers being trapped by the floodwaters whichever way they try to escape. A metaphor perhaps for the situation the planet now finds itself in.
The artwork in the book and accompanying this poem is by Australian artist, Jeanné Browne, © 2013.
From Limen © Susan Hawthorne 2013