Cloud Umbrella - March 15, 2026

my mood today doesn’t match

the lazy sun’s, not even the

flat one of the cumulus clouds

as I pull out my own cloud umbrella

and walk head down

inside its shadow,

where others can’t see

the face which manufactures

those fake and forced “Hi’s”

for some reason, a gardener

draws out of me a genuine

greeting, a fully felt “Hello”

something inside felt a need

to deliver a message between

cultures, too long, too far apart

after that, I shed that umbrella

dropping it by side of the road

each step the rest of the way

becomes a steppingstone

across the islands of the world