by Michael Bettencourt

Created on: July 01, 2008

UMBRELLA

No, you will not walk alone
under an umbrella
over dark plains of asphalt
pursued by rain.
That is not your fate.
Those moments can frighten you,
make your mortal hinges freeze -
but you are prone to only
momentary rust, a doubt like dew
that settles, then burns off.
But those moments! -

Every morning I watch
four little girls shortcut
through the yard,
climb over the fence to the street
that goes to their school.
You are like the last girl over,
who perched at the top
for a moment longer than needed,
who while her friends told her
"Hurry!"
savored the world four feet from
where she usually saw it.
No, you will not hide
under an umbrella
but clamber up the rain,
leaving shouting friends below
for a moment
to see what can be seen.

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