Valleys dammed
steep slopes logged,
coal gouged out
and trucked away.


It looks like a sound
return on investment
with no other
price to pay.


Until the rains come
and the dammed up
impoundments
give way.


A raging wall
of water, rocks
and trees flattens
everything in its path.


Houses gone, roads
bridges. Those who
fled in fear come back
to a grim aftermath


In flaying a mountain
to smoke the heart,
the whole is sacrificed
to the part.


There is no way
to reckon the loss
without tracing

         addiction's cost.


           p.j. laska