You might think to make yourself small.
They’ll make you feel ashamed
for sharing colorful ideas.
But when the rains begin to fall,
they’ll come asking for you.
You might feel the need to stay silent.
Trust is a luxury and yours
has been spent
on lottery tickets for someone else.
But when the rains fall
and the floodwaters begin to roll in,
they’ll come asking for you.
You might have to hide.
Draw little eyes on ping pong balls
so they think you never sleep
and draw a little mouth
that makes the same sounds they do.
But when the rains fall
and the floodwaters roll in
and the sea begins to lick at their feet,
they’ll come asking for you.
You might feel you need to run.
That things aren’t tolerable
any longer and it’s better to take
a chance on parts unknown
than to risk another minute
on this freight train ouroborus.
And when the rains fall
and the floodwaters roll in
and the sea swallows them
and they begin to feel the weight
of their chains in the icy depths,
they’ll wonder
how you could have forsaken them.