LOST UMBRELLA

Outside, up above,
it was a rainy day.
Inside, down below,
it was dry.
Here I am
on my way
in a subway.
Someone left an umbrella.
It was left on a seat.
3 or 4 people with umbrellas saw it.
A Chinese lady watching my eyes,
said to me, “Take it.”
I didn’t.
I didn’t need one.
I said, “You take it.”
With a smile

she pointed to the one she had.
It was an old umbrella –
a bit beaten up.
Then I realized
she was free.
The train came to a stop.
The door opened.
A man sitting there with 2 umbrellas
stood up and grabbed this 1 umbrella.
We all watched him

as he left our train.

We all wondered,

"What does one do

with 3 umbrellas

in the rain?"

The Chinese lady smiled

all the way to the next stop.

© Andy Costello, Poems 2007