A Recent History of Conceived Bodies of Water

Hi there.

Today I’m sharing a poem inspired by history. My personal history, to be precise.

My parents met at Lake Havasu, an unnatural body of water created by damming along the Colorado River, made into a tourist destination by the digging of a channel and placement of a replica of the London Bridge over it. While conducting research for a book-length project on my maternal grandparents’ immigrant story, I drove the same highway out towards that lake I had rode along as a passenger so many times before throughout my life.

I was struck by reflecting on the unlikeliness of the love stories of both generations that came before me, which enabled me to, well, exist. This poem is what emerged from those reflections.

Enjoy.

There is a bridge in Arizona
called London
that was flown over stone by stone
to cross a channel dug by tractors
on a lake dammed from the Colorado
to tame her power in reading lights and warm kitchen sinks
big enough to bathe babies.

And there is a road from California
through the world’s harshest desert
you can cruise through in two hours
at 70 degrees
on a full tank of…