The Colorful Umbrella
Said old man with raindropped chin,
“Useless thing”, and cast in bin
An umbrella that was not worn
Colorful, yes, but slightly torn
Useless thing on any rainy day
To keep the drips and drops at bay
And so it seemed to be no abuse
To dispose of that which held no use
Tossed in a bin and left to wait
T’was colorful umbrella’s fate
But only fate knows what fate’s about
And soon an old lady fished it out
Brilliant colors caught her eye
Red like rubies, blue like sky
Yellow, purple, orange too
Slightly torn, but mostly new
Months had passed, the sun was hot
And sought old man a shady spot
And as he strode to shady tree
What do you think old man did see?
Brilliant colors, so bold and loud
Held high ‘neath not a single cloud
Old lady with no care at all
Holding high her parasol
“Excuse me Ma’am, don’t think me cute,”
“Where did you get that bumbershoot?”
She laughed and said, “in the trash”
“Tossed out because it has this gash”
“That is just what I suspected!”
The old man he interjected
“Pretty thing, it caught my eye”
“But it didn’t keep me dry”
Then old man said, “I’m confused”
“Why keep a broken thing so used?”
Old lady laughed again and spoke,
“Why indeed keep this ‘brella broke?”
“But as you see it gives me ease”
“When sun is hot and there’s no breeze”
“And on days with no sun or rain”
“I lean upon it like a cane”
“Yes this ‘brella has a leak”
“but it helps me when I’m weak”
“Stiff and old, I am hard to bend”
“But this handle, a hand can lend”
“It helps me reach beyond my grasp”
“Like when my keys fell from their clasp”
“Yet in truth these useless uses”
“Are really just my excuses”
“For just to simply catch a sight”
“Of these colors, fair and bright”
“Brings me such a pure delight”
“I’ll keep this with me day and night”
Then she giggled like a young girl
And umbrella she gave a twirl
She left old man in thoughtful shade
Until these sunny thoughts he made:
Brilliant colors to her eye
Red like rubies, blue like sky
Yellow, purple, orange too
Slightly torn, but ever new.
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I hope you will download this image and use it as a coloring page. If you do please post it to Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #colormewithhugs. That way I can see what you create and I’ll even post some of them here. Thanks!