I went to the cupboards
Searching for words
But found out they were all bare
It was then I realized
It was time to move on
To a brand-new house
With cupboards overflowing
Just food for thought
To be savored very slowly
New rhythmic messages
Waiting to be dissected

Outside
The rain had started to subside
Flood waters were finally receding
The sun was shining high overhead again
And I felt a special sadness
At having to wake up
From a very pleasant dream

For in a Kodachrome vision
I saw a child’s play
With marionettes dancing on the stage
I couldn’t see where the wires led to
But had a good idea
Who was pulling the strings
It was all quite silly
This animation
Yet somehow it felt so real
Especially since the puppets
Had all been painted
With the faces of people
I knew and had known
The ones I had yet to meet


© 1982

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11/06/2019

Author's Note: As stated in my Journal entry: Poetry Update – October 29, 2019, here is the complete unedited version of After The Flood, written in 1982. It has some similarities to After The Flood, at the closing of Connecting The Dots, at least theme-wise, and these of course eventually made their way into the new poem, written in 2017. In 1982 however, I lacked the experience and foresight to fully capitalize on the inspiration, and so it remained as is, untouched, until in 1997, with several years of writers’ workshop experience behind me, I once more pulled out the poem. Immediately seeing it for its weaknesses and strengths, the third stanza especially stood out, and with a little fine tuning, separated, given its own title (Awakening), thought it would make an excellent opening poem to Enter Every System (1980 - 1985).

Posted on 11/06/2019
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