Scarlet Umbrella Tumbles

Scarlet Umbrella Tumbles
© Surazeus
2023 03 05

Only the river is there to applaud 
intense performance of the anguished man 
who plays piano on the riverwalk 
at gold midnight under the weeping bridge 
when he laments death of woman he loves 
whose ghost haunts him with absence of her being. 

Scarlet umbrella tumbles in shocked wind 
with desperate agony to find her hand 
limp in lifeless sorrow on asphalt road 
smeared with melting rainbow of fraught blood 
that screams loud as tattered butterfly wings 
scattered with rose petals on pools of tears. 

Not even the maple by the blind pond 
could console torn heart of the anguished man 
who slouches naked on the grand piano 
with frazzled angel wings limp on sand dunes 
that whistle timeless horror of desire 
far outside vast maze of human hope. 

With clarity of silence between notes 
of heart-rending melodies no one hears 
the woman in scarlet dress and high heels 
strides toward the secret cavern of lost faith, 
ambitious to reclaim her private dreams 
lost after years of submissive obedience. 

Expressing contempt for free agency, 
the man in dark blue suit with silver tie 
shouts as he drives expensive car in rain, 
"Because you are my lawful wedded wife 
your body and mind are mine to possess 
so you must respect my authority." 

Blood of her heart gleams scarlet as the rose 
on chrome bumper of his expensive car 
when he races away in purple rain 
on roaring engine of greedy contempt 
after erasing her soul from the world 
because he kills those he cannot control. 

Only the river is there to lament 
heart-breaking loss of the elegant woman 
whose charming smile of selfless charity 
beams from her loving heart with subtle warmth 
to eradicate pain of suffering 
for each soul blessed by her attentive care. 

Awake in vast indifferent universe, 
the wingless angel on bleak river shore 
plays swift electrifying melody 
on old piano, drenched in evening rain, 
as scarlet umbrella tumbles on road 
to hide tear-gleaming eyes of the moon toad.