Three feet of water in the street,

Mom said no school, that was pretty neat,

Not even allowed out to play,

With me being seven years old,

That for my mom was quite a feat…

The ocean raging, breaking against the boardwalk,

So loud sometimes one could barely be heard to talk,

The wind shaking the house as the windows did rattle,

The house across the street split in half,

And taken out to sea, never to be seen again,

I cried as there was nothing out side to at laugh…

Finally our home did succumb,

The ground floor flooded, the beach side wall crumbled,

I awoke that morning with my bed against the opposite wall,

Like any little kid my world was turned upside down,

My screaming and crying in fear louder than the wind and waves…

At low tide, Daddy did move us one block further in,

The streets were strewn with debris, I rode in daddy’s arms,

Mom and dad did not want me to come to any harm,

Waves were still breaking on the beach, but the boardwalk was gone,

Hobby horses from the merry-go-round did our house surround…

My mind did swirl, my virginity regards Nature’s wrath did burst,

Never did I see so much destruction, so much of Nature’s worst,

Our dog Rags Rasputin the next day got away,

Not well trained, he ran and ran quite far away,

Dad and I went looking for him, big trouble he was in, I must say,

If it weren’t for me, Dad would have killed him with his rifle that day,

Found him we did, hiding in fear from a rat the size of me,

Dad shooting him, the rat, instead of Rags, glad was I, I must say…

© ed ~ 2/4/06