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With Raindrops Pelting the Pane

The color of disappointment fades
as ticket holders dunk for apples.
A visiting professor begins a lecture on eczema
his bald pink head barely visible above the lighted lectern.
A block or two away, we come upon several
in-kind acrobats tumbling about aimlessly
each with his or her own sad tale to tell.
Fortunately, we are not without pen or paper
though later the Monopoly Club
will find our scribbles indecipherable.
The elderly would have had an easier time.
Kids tuck themselves in.
Raindrops pelt the pane.
We go out on a limb
with marmalade canisters strapped to our calves
and no one to turn to -
a safe harbor bobbing just beyond the breakers.

Family of Acrobats  by Pablo Picasso