forty
the water started rising
so the old man gathered
whatever was handy
stuffed it all into the boat
he’d built in the backyard
his neighbor looked over
the low wall between their
plots and chuckled
it was the laughter of the
narrow at the eccentric
but the water kept coming
the old man shuffled around
the outside of the boat
tapping, filling, checking
after 12 hours the boat was floating
just a few inches off the ground
but floating for certain
held in place by ropes on each end
the neighbor had stopped chuckling
there was a worried look in his eyes
when a day had passed it was clear
the rain would not stop, not now
the old man stepped off the roof
of his house to the deck of the boat
he shuffled aft, undid the rope
shuffled forward, freed the boat
as it floated off down the street
he turned to look at his neighbor
sitting there on his own roof
scanning the skies for any sign
of a break in the banks of clouds
10 September 2013
State College, PA
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