The Ebro

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

 

The Ebro (River Series)

 

It flows east by southeast

From Cantabria to the Mediterranean Sea

It feeds the north of Spain

It borrows from the Pyrenees

On the northern border with France

It courses through highlands

To the broad open plains

Then narrows in the rocky gorge

Where the river is constrained

 

In ancient times it formed the line

Between Carthage and imperial Rome

Battles were fought and many died

For the right to call the Ebro home

 

In modern days it marked the beginning

Of the end of Spain’s democracy

La Batalla del Ebro left thousands dead

And helped found an enduring autocracy

 

The flow of the Ebro is running down

Due to dams, irrigation and warming

From time-to-time floods take dry ground

As the river absorbs extreme storming

 

The River Ebro will endure

Despite the inventions of man

Its future will remain unsure

Though Spain will do what she can