where my umbrellas elope to

i've been wondering where
all my umbrellas have gone to--
i don't have any right now
& i have become one
of those people who 
duck & run through the rain
with their hood
up & their arms 
sarcophagus-crossed-- 
like every small girl
who measures herself 
in crayon lines on the wall
i opened like a field
full of umbrellas-- 
a wet sock 
goddess-- a rain boot
girl who splashed
in puddles with her mother
when the sky could not
longer contain all 
she was feeling-- 
there are few greater moments
of relief than watching 
the heavy clouds in july finally 
let themselves go 
in the type of rain that hit
the windows of our house
like a car wash-- like
a fist full of water balloons--
like a burst of sky laughter--
we take to the porch 
& she sighs the biggest sigh--
free of umbrellas & roofs--
none of us tried to cover
our heads & we
all soaked down to the marrow
of our bones-- we were rain
bodies now-- movements 
of the ocean on land--
& the land was the sea was 
the sky was the rain--
oh & in the highest moment of
the storm that's when they 
got away--
the umbrella by the door--
the one on the window still--
tucked in the coat closet--
sneaky little devils all opened
like poppies or like tulips
in april-- tangled themselves
in the laughter of the clouds 
& ran away with each other-- 
handle by handle eloping
to somewhere in the fists 
of rain
where they all hang-- suspended
by nothing but a belief 
in crying with your whole
body-- a belief 
in the eyes of the storm
to open like poppies or like
the umbrella over
our heads when you walked
me home-- 
you had to hold it
for both of us
because you were taller--
you were always taller--
if you decide to come back 
meet me when it rain in july--
when the tree in the play ground
behind the elementary school
pulls out her hair in the wind
in a destructive kind
of joy that only leads 
to temporary rivers 
down main street-- maybe we'll end
up there in the field
of umbrellas in the sky &
we'll be able to walk beneath them
& watch the water roll
off their heads like tulip petals--
i'll want to take one
home but i'll know it's where
they belong--
next time one of my umbrellas
finds love & runs away from
me i'll think of you & walking
me home & the moments we'd
let the rain soak through
our bones-- i won't look
for it again-- i'll let it
hold hands with another lost
umbrella-- plant itself
in the soil by the front 
porch--