THE FLOOD

I come from a place where everything is always everything And time is nothing

Reality the laughter of a child

Happiness the feeling around me

Time never changes.

It rained and homes got flooded,

In my child like eyes I saw puddles to play in,

Streams to jump in,

Ponds to swim in,

Not knowing that for adults, 

Time had become nothing

Time had stood still,

Their only thoughts were to rescue chairs and floating across my imaginary lake.

I laugh at a chair floating past with a cat sat on its arm,

He looked funny.

"Look" I said,

Stepping up to try and grab him,

Arms pulled me back,

I tried to get slack

To put the cat into my imaginary sack

But I run out of luck,

He had nine lives and jumped off,

As a barrel rolled by and pushed the chair against the lodged car

That got stuck in the mud.

"Look" I cried, "Look at the cat,"

"Be careful", someone said,

"We are in a flood that is dangerous,

Caused by the rainstorm."

It seemed times stood still,

Nothing changed,

It is the norm,

Floods after every rain.

Who cares if the poor are washed away and end up with no where to stay,

Who cares if they cannot find shelter and walk around forlorn and running helter skelter,

Who cares if they go hungry and suffer, while the rich live in  affluence,

Throwing away things that could feed a whole village.

The flood just washed away what little they had,

While the rich just say it is the government who should help.

They say in the media "Why do the poor live near flood prone areas,"

"Why do they suffer each time it rains,"

The rich live in luxury and blame the poor
Who try as they may cannot get any help

No help from the rich,

No help from the government,

No help to help  themselves get a better life.

But I, a child, only looked at the cat sitting on the arm of the chair floating by .

 (c)  Mariska Taylor-Darko 2018