Along certain rivers, the water rises each year.

It leaves its banks.
It spreads across the land.

When it recedes, it leaves something behind.

Silt.
Nutrients.
Moisture.
Ground made ready.

The flood is not feared.
It is expected.

Without it, the land produces less.
With it, the fields are renewed.

Not all floods are equal.

A lesser rise restores.
A greater rise establishes new productive ground.

Each rise leaves a watermark.

A line where the water once stood.
A record of what has been reached.

The mark does not move when the water falls.
It remains where it was last achieved.

What reaches the mark restores.
What exceeds it establishes.

The past is not erased.
It becomes the reference.

Only when the water rises above the mark is new ground established.

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