how old is the man at coldamp station?

just take a picture of yourself

How Old Is The Man At Coldamp Station?

    every raindrop felt like tiny bites from a rain tiger

 each more playful than the last

bouncing from sidewalk to sidewalk

until one paw swiped my cheek

and drew blood

 and an old man

didn't know that from one angle

he was just an umbrella

 and from one side, just a book

open to the 33rd page

 attacked by the rain tiger

who got a good lick

and made the word 'blossom' into 'bluggum'

and the rain tiger howled with laughter

 like it was god of thunder

and while mother bought us a ticket

I snuck around the umbrella

 but then got shy

when I saw him crying

I didn't know

he used his umbrella for protection

against the soggy old world 

just like I used my mother

to buy me tickets

the rain tiger really did it this time

it painted tears on that old man's face

 giving him water-colour

and the allusion of life

so I didn't ask him if fish get thirsty

or if he knew where to find an imperial flower

 or a grain of time

because it was past the hour..

and mother was soaked with anger

 because our tickets were dated 1939

so we gave them to the old man

and the rain tiger disappeared