Building The Ark

Meg Hutchinson

At the telephone booth in the rain, it's



Been like this four nights and three days, and



Who's to say thirty-six aren't to come, it's an



April shower but I'm ready for the flood, and



Neither six hundred nor the chosen one,



still I lower the planks



and march the wild things on, and



God said, "Build it out of gopher wood,"



and I said back,



"You know music it floats real good" and







How is an olive leaf, enough of a covenant



Borne on a small wing after a long dark



Should I still walk the edge,



if the waters are rising



Two by two they march on,



safe I walk all alone







See I'm no good with a hammer



or a nail, and the



Wind will have to carry me 'cause I never



learned to sail, and



I didn't get sea legs when they



were passed out, but I



Learned to sing from way down



deep where it counts, and







How will I calculate my area



Three decks are a lot for a paper



thin tape measure, and



How will I catch two of every fish



and every bird, with



Music alone can I float through this world?







I know that I have made it this way



Unrequited love leaves a lot to say



And a lot of free time



to sing away the days, and



Makes me want to be



just a little bit crazy, and







Our greatest gift is the survival urge, and



If I seem distant



I'm just protecting myself, and



People tell me my full name means pearl,



like an oyster in my shell



I will make something beautiful