i went walking in the rain with a too-big umbrella.
barefoot in the park i saw things that no one ever knows
like the herd of ibis who plunge their speared beaks
into the earth, while shaking their dirty feathers in
a mock mardi-gras parade.

you could have been beside me,
there was room enough
under my too-big umbrella,
under the too-big sky
but i was glad
to be alone.