John Anthony Fingleton lives and writes in Paraguay.

The Rain Began
By John Anthony Fingleton

The rain began on Tuesday,
and never stopped for days,
sewers overflowed,
making river roads—
that flooded most highways.
Buses splashed
while cars got stuck,
like beached ships in a storm,
some brave pedestrians,
waded to work—
schoolchildren stayed at home.

Shops and houses in the lower parts,
were flooded—their goods destroyed,
a bear was seen floating down the River Lee,
but the Fire Brigade was not deployed,
they were there only for emergencies,
when someone’s life’s at risk,
that did not include drowning Teddy Bears—
they weren’t even on the list.