The Flood

It’s all being swept away

The ground I walked on yesterday

Playing with my dogs

Shooting chew toys in the air

A river of water erodes my life away

Layer by

Agonizing

Layer

And all I can do is watch

What do you grab

When everything is crumbling out from under you

When life as you know it is about to change?

What do you do

When the steady minded people around you

Are losing it?

When you are in waist deep water

At the complete mercy of a higher power?

I can tell you what you grab

You grab the first things you see

Stuff them away

You clutch to them

Because they are the last thread of your old life you have left

I can tell you what you do

You be the calm one

Take on each impossible task as they come

You don’t lose your cool

You be the rock for the people who used to be yours

When you are wading through water

That could easily take your life

You keep your head up

And tell yourself that everything is going to be fine

Only when I return after all the water is gone

Can I acknowledge it happened

That I am homeless

That even though most of my things survived

I have no room to put them in

As I walk through the ruins

I can hear it

The echoes

Of all the memories

The laughter

And gossip

As I walk through my house one last time

The only thing I can do

Is whisper to it all

Goodbye