JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

Seeking some sun and summer fun

we went

to Ireland – the Emerald Isle

the forecast said, bright and clear

at this time of the year

the weather’s mostly fair

 

– it rained!

on Wednesday afternoon there was a break

a parting of the clouds from five till eight

and after that, it rained some more

 

We went

to Italy in May and June

to miss the tourist season and the crowds

but somehow got involved with heavy clouds

that went from overcast to fog

then covered the terrain

with days of ceaseless rain

it hasn’t been like this two hundred years

our hostess said

shaking her head

 

To Swaziland we went

eight years of drought

had bleached the country out

but how absurd, as we arrived

as if they’d heard

our wishes for a bone-dry week

the rain clouds dashed in dark and bleak

and then it poured, the sand all turned to mud

and we got stuck between the soggy map,

the road – a river now – the windscreen wipers’ thud

 

Eventually we got the hint

it seems wherever we decide to go

it starts to rain and turning

ill fortune to gain, we’re opening

a company to aid locations

where shortages of water plague their nations

and for an ample fee

we’ll come there dressed for sun

and with a little luck and chutzpah

the rainy days will come