remembering the songs of his youth

i had a chance meeting with an umbrella
on the town sidewalk
near the front door of a church
and we both joked about the pale blue patches
of sky
and the tiny puddles of water in the street
as the Sunday sermon was ending
a strange thief walked by
looking at us
as though we were responsible for hiding his loot
even though we didn't know it was already in the ditch
out of sight and out of reach
covered by sandy gravel
so we followed his footsteps
to the summer playground where we saw
him play with his own umbrella
making a powerful face as he tried to
turn it into a sewing machine
but in spite of all his efforts
with the thimble and the thread
only a single school of fish appeared
and
blowing bubbles they surfaced
directly into a room for smoking pot
rather than tobacco
and much later when they asked the thief
to surprise them with an artificial lake,
he put on a pair of sunglasses and went for a swim,
remembering the songs of his youth.