i can't wait for it to rain
i've got mary p's umbrella in my head
its sections stiff and starched and black
closed like a prude's stiff petticoat
and when the east wind flows my way
i will borrow the umbrella she set aside
closed in the corner but i'll open it wide
twirling the ribs in between the cloth
like spokes in a bicycle they spin and spin
points on rib ends like the points on her hat pins

i can't wait to get out in the rain tonight
where i will stay until daylight

the seven sisters will visit me
i'll wear a new pair of gloves
transported to a place of mystery
a snakeskin belt around my waist
as i hold tin foil stars and taste gingerbread
with mary p's umbrella above my head

the umbrella is a parachute in reverse
i'll be lifted up by a gust of wet wind
where balloons filled with angel breath float in the sky
and the cherubs all eat shepherd's pie

i'll return to the ground, turn the umbrella upside down
until it fills up with water from asteroids
as, face up i open my mouth the be filled
with the sweet cold drops already melted
in fat clouds before they erupted
and i will know the secret

i will stand in the rain i will flood like the sea
i will laugh with the lightening and thunder
i've no fear of storms after all i've been under
mary poppin's umbrella, now filled like a water barrel
i will tip it and let it leak just a little bit at a time
because when it's empty all rhymes are done
here comes the sun and i must go inside

i don't think i need to say what my all-time favorite book is