Water Tower

This was inspired by the Water Tower in Vukovar, Croatia. We visited it in July 2019.

Water Tower

I remember, when I was young,
that all I needed
to do was to hold water.

Up and down the river
the boats sailed
as I filled and emptied
while the waters rose and fell.
My people would climb
inside to see the panorama
that was mine
by day and night.

Then, one day, in a shock
of noise and fire,
everything changed.

I watched as

innocent homes,

museums, workplaces

fell like sandcastles
in rolling tides.

Hollow, burning shells
with skull eyes stared
at me in the darkness.

I took blow upon blow,
punished with holes
and gashes, barely standing.

At last all was quiet;
resting in the stink of death. 

I became no longer
just a tower.
They will keep me, gaze on
my wounded body,
preserved as something

I never wanted to be.

Tim Fellows 2019