NPM 2023 - Poem 13

My poem for Day 13 of National Poetry Month is written to the photograph The Johnstown calamity. A slightly damaged house. Pennsylvania Johnstown, 1889.

The Great Flood of 1889

When the South Fork Dam gave way

the Little Conemaugh River ran 

like the Mississippi

a flood of water and debris

hit the unsuspecting town

fires burned for three days

it wasn't pretty

even in stereoscope

Poem ©Tricia Stohr-Hunt, 2023. All rights reserved.

I hope you'll join me tomorrow for my next poem highlighting a piece of history. You can read the previous poems as images on Instagram or at the links below. Each one is listed according to the primary source that inspired it.

April 1 - Sketch map of White Oak Swamp and vicinity southeast of Richmond.]; 6/1862; Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Record Group 77 
April 2 - John Wilkes Booth's calling card
April 3 - Section of the city code of Montgomery, Alabama, requiring segregation on buses
April 4 - 1917 poster showing Liberty presenting a sword "Service" to a young woman
April 5 - Sheet music cover for Votes for Women: International Suffragists' Song
April 6 - Teachers' Monthly Report and Rules (1865): Narrative School Reports from Teachers and Superintendents of Freedmen's Schools
April 7 - Letter from Governor Ross Supporting Apache Removal (1886) 
April 8 - Roy Takeno reading paper in front of office / photograph by Ansel Adams
April 9 - Amnesty Oath of Robert E. Lee (1865) 
April 10 - Detroit Publishing Company photograph of The Main street, Mackinac
April 11 - Pigeon Message from Major Whittlesey to the Commanding Officer of the 308th Infantry (1918)
April 12 - Henry Bacon’s Competition Proposal for a Monument to Abraham Lincoln (1912)