As the poem explains the picture was taken by Russ Henderson while doing road work along the Salmon.

Please

You’re embarrassing yourself.

Liquid to vapor to solid,

back to liquid and vapor?

Round and round you go,

drought after drought, flood after flood,

your cyclical magic ad nauseum.

Please.

And for what?

Don’t you think we ever get tired of it?

And why, in February, 2010,

along the Salmon between

Riggins and French Creek

did you distract Russ Henderson

from doing important road work,

making him snap that shameless

phone picture like he was sexting

your seductive curves

all across the globe?

Are you kidding me?

A perfectly round ice clock

measuring 100 feet in diameter,

casually ticking away in a swirling eddy?

Just so you know,

right there on the ridge,

he forwarded it to everyone he knew,

you pathetic peep show.

And by the way, Ms. Drama Queen?

Please.

Must you always wear your emotions

on those wafer-thin sleeves,

sprawled out in the channel like a nude in art class?

We get it. We know you don’t mean it,

that it’s only for the moment,

and your sweet vortex will soon again bend you around,

freeing your frozen fertility to prey downstream.

But, please.

We have important road work to do.

Get over yourself.