Our Flood

When the water dribbled in
From behind the once-not-stained door,
It soaked into our mat
And poured all over our new hardwood floor.

Eventually the levels rose
And our house started to swim,
Our neighbors laughed, sneering back,
“I’m glad we’re not like them!”

But when the fish fell threw
The coral hole in the roof,
It was much more beautiful;
The shark-fin sun dangled and dollied
While sand dollars collected in our pockets.
The reefs and whales made all the more useful
That salt-scented view of underwater peaceful.

For forty days and forty dawn
We waded in our wonderland,
Until the water seeped back down
And had to flood the Johnsons
On the other side of town.

We mopped and cried
While the last grains of salt left our swollen eyes,
But never, I swore, would I forget
This over-mucking, seafaring gift!