An Average Year

(on 2010)

Drought plus flood divided by two
equals average, the old timers say
Across our nation, then,
we’ve had a fairly average year
dry and dusty,
hot and burning,
snow and rain,
record floods
this is just the last week.

And while some, or possibly all,
of these events
are out of the ordinary,
together, in the equation,
they are average.

So we get on with our lives
rowing down the main street,
experiencing a white Christmas,
fearing the summer northerlies,
and marvelling at how we survived
another average year.

© Peter Bean