Rainy Days Are Better in Bed

by Lisa Marie Zapata

I grabbed the branded umbrella before leaving the store under a sudden rainstorm

We sold beds and bed sheet sets

And the umbrella declared

Rainy days are better in bed

But when the balding officer grinned and said,

“You know, I could book you for solicitation.”

I couldn’t help but imagine stabbing the finial through that smirk of his then crushing his head

Some time later—weeks, maybe months passed

I carried the closed umbrella like a weapon in case that other strange fella followed

                And when I saw the balding officer that once tried to pick me up with a threat come close

I said, I’m being followed and he asked, what do you want me to do?

I fled and from my peripheral I saw

The bum I gave a Monday, Wednesday, Friday one dollar allowance to tackle

That strange fella that followed

Doing what that balding officer refused to do

______

Lisa Marie Zapata is a writer and dancer from the birthplace of Frank Sinatra and baseball. She has been featured on Tasteful Rude, Hobart, Some Words, HAWKEYE, and other publications. She can be found at Twitter/X @LMZzz and instagram/pi.fyi @ellemzeee.

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