Flood

When it rains like this you know for sure that river's going to flood its banks again
Because where else is the water going to go but wide
Spilling across my little apron of land here where the river takes a jog
Going wide and deep until it seems one more drop and my whole world's going to wash away
That's how close, that's when it stops, the sky clears
Floodwater all runs downstream and overnight something miraculous happens
I wake in the morning to a profound miracle, like the time I woke and looked out
Seemed like my whole riverbank was paved with shimmering silver
Well, I grabbed my boots, I ran down there in my nightgown
And what do you think it was but millions of tiny little fish
Beaching themselves, gasping out their last words, little "O"s of surprise
Well, what could I do but go and gather up all my buckets and my wheelbarrow and go down there and pick 'em all up
The ones the crow hadn't already got to, and go through my garden with a basket of seed corn and a long stick
Planting just like Squanto taught the Pilgrims to do the year they had that first Thanksgiving
You know, one seed, one fish, one hole?
Of course it took me the best part of a week, and wasn't I glad when the last of those fish had a proper burial
But that corn grew to be the tallest that anyone around here had ever seen
Ten, fifteen feet tall, some of it, with ears like watermelon
And folks around here still talk about the year I grew that corn so tall
But I never told them how I did it, I never gave away my secret
Because it kind of seemed like a pact, or maybe a test
And maybe I passed it, because the next time we had a flood
On the morning after the water went down, I looked out and my riverbank was all shimmering silver again
Well, this time I got ready
I got dressed, I gathered up all my buckets and my wheelbarrow, and I went down there
And as I got closer I saw that, no, that was no fish
That riverbank was covered with twenty-dollar bills
Can you imagine? And all I could think was-
Well, aren't I lucky that I have all these buckets and this wheelbarrow?
And I filled them all up, two, three times over, some of them, which is a lot of twenty dollar bills
It took me the best part of a week just washing the mud off them there in my kitchen sink
And rinsing them, n' hanging them out on the clothesline with clothespins to dry
And runnin' the iron over them because they got a little wrinkled
But when I was done, I had a stack of twenty dollar bills
Enough to stuff a mattress with if I wanted to
And maybe I wanted to, maybe I didn't
I'm not saying that that's what I did with them
Just that the next time it started raining like it wasn't ever going to stop
I got that kind of Christmas feeling, like you know something really wonderful is about to happen
You know if you think about it too much you're gonna scare it away
But it's really wonderful and you can't stop thinking about it
And you know if you think about it too much you're gonna scare it away
But it's really wonderful and you can't stop thinking about it
And you know if you think about it too much you're gonna scare it away
But it's really wonderful
You know if you think about it too much you're gonna scare it away
But it's really wonderful, you know that feeling?
Well, that was the year that it rained and rained
Days and days of rain and high water
My back porch steps walked out into a little eddy for days and days
And me feeling all Christmassy and wishing I just knew the end of the story
And it would be over for days and days and days and days
And days and days
Well, finally there was a day when my back porch steps walked out onto dry land again
And that night was the longest night of my life
I swear that night was as long as most weeks would be if you went a week without sleeping, but I waited
I waited till I could see that the sun was up full, shining on
That riverbank before I peeked open the blinds
I looked out and what do you think it was sitting there on that riverbank looking just like in the showroom except for a little water running out the bottom of the doors, but that blue Pontiac
Same one you see sitting in the drive
Not a scratch on it. North Carolina plates, figure that out
Key in the ignition. Started right up
Of course it was the best part of a week before the mud firmed up to
Where I could budge her but after that I drove that car everywhere
I probably would be driving her right now if it weren't for that flat tire
But no matter, radio works fine, I like to sit in the car and listen to the radio, get the weather report
But you know when it rains like this
I don't need a weather report to know for sure that river's going to flood