Andrea Dunn
After engaging with the story of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood in the RSA, I realized that the basic Sunday School telling of the story never inspired me to ponder how much the narrative omits and how little information is provided. When placed against questions about who and what was permitted on the ark, what the flood did to and for the creation, and how God covenanted with mankind after the flood, a chasm opened for my imagination, and I found myself trying to link what the story gives us with what it withholds. My most significant composition focuses on the raven, who Noah releases from the ark, only to later release a dove for seemingly the same purpose. Ravens are often characterized as intelligent, but disreputable, mischievous looters, and causers of mayhem. The raven in Raven's Flood Story has the whimsy of any raven, but also a purpose in the story: To help clear the waters and prepare the land for those waiting on the ark.
For a text-only version of Raven’s Story of the Flood, please click here.
More by Andrea Dunn
What I Want to Say to My Skeptical Friend, Now Dead
You worked so hard to take your last breath, but your lungs were already flooded, just like everything around you.
What I want to say is there was room for you on this boat. True, you would have had to yield some autonomy, jettison your big goals, some freedom, but I guess that happened anyway. The virus wins.
Would you be glad to know that I’ve stayed on board? It’s been about a year and the waves still surge wildly outside the hull.
My mind storms too. Rollicking terror wed to maddening boredom. But I keep it mostly marked. This isn’t easy. We could have comforted each other.
I’m scared. Look at the bodies adrift in the formless morgue. God, I don’t want to see my mom or sister out there.
All that debris filling lungs outside? I think it’s the wreckage of a world we broke a long time ago. I wish you hadn’t taken in all that garbage.
What I want to say is there’s so much room in here, in the ark. It’s big enough for everyone. I’m going to try to throw open the hatch, toss out a lifeline, make space at the table for anyone who’ll come in. I wish you had come in.
The raven says she will wait.
About Andrea Dunn
Andrea Lee Dunn is from Indianapolis by way of the Texas-Mexico border and North Carolina. She studied creative writing at Texas Tech University and now enjoys balancing a writing life with raising three children. Examples of Andrea's work can be found in New Mexico Review, Southwestern American Literature, Cagibi Journal and elsewhere. Andrea's work in Flying Island Literary Review received a Pushcart Prize Nomination in 2018.