While working in Vegas last February

From LA my wife made an ominous plea

The electric bill at Coolwater was up really high

Please call our neighbor to go down there and see

The water for our house is pumped from our well

The pump is electric as the majority are

When my neighbor went in much to my chagrin

The Missouri River was no longer afar

A fifty cent part on a dishwater failed

Letting loose huge torrents of rain

And my wood kitchen floor and the cabinets

Sent the torrent to the floor ducts like a drain

The basement became after two weeks of flooding

As you might expect it would be

It was only the cold that prevented the mold

From growing to the size of a tree

The floors were destroyed, the cabinets too

The walls made of drywall were no longer dry

Foul black mildew bespeckled the appliances

It was enough to make a grown man cry

The demo was swift, the remediation extended

The insurer was fair with the claim

But the recovery process is painful

And I’ve got only myself to blame

Right now I’m sitting with my laptop in the kitchen

Admiring the lake view and new kitchen toys

As well as the woodworking efforts

Of the Ozarkian crafts working boys

Now in all of this there’s a lesson

I truly hope that you do not just scoff

When you travel away even for just a few days

Be sure to turn the house water OFF

Amen

Copyright 2009 Patrick A Granfors