Umbrella

In photography, liturgy, or martial arts,
or architecture. Or else for throwing shade,
to overshadow. The sum of its parts,
from ferrule to handle, times how it’s made:

pole, stretchers, ribs, and canopy. Courage
to learn, like a character in a novella,
when it rains or shines, to take, not umbrage,
but cover, under a sombre umbrella.

This poem appeared in Geist 118 in a set of poems along with "Sprinkler" which can be read here.