Festoons of Flowers – Haibun – December 20, 2015

Waiting for the bus in a sea of umbrellas can be an interesting experience.  The streets become as colourful as a Christmas scene festooned with multi-coloured decorations.  Some people always carry an umbrella with them, so they’re the small telescopic variety, maybe made of bright plastic or a duller clothe-like material.  Some came out after the rain began to fall and have an umbrella that covers not only their head and shoulders, but maybe three or more phantasmagorical persons.

Imagine Rome on a rainy day where I used to work.  Romans, and indeed most Italians, aren’t used to the disciplined queuing up so common in an Anglo-Saxon world.  They see the bus coming and jostle their would be fellow passengers trying to be the first on the bus when it pulls up.

The people who would descend from the bus, can’t, until finally someone gives way, overcoming the impasse.  People begin to step off of the bus, with their umbrellas before them, which pop open like flowers on a documentary run at high-speed. Then finally the new passengers mount the bus walking like crabs, a sort of sideways back-step, their umbrellas behind them, so they won’t get wet.  I often wondered if all of this wasn’t some mysterious metaphor of Italian life.

festoons of flowers
blooming on a rainy day
catching a bus

© G.s.k. ‘15

This haibun was written for: Haibun Monday – 4 which appeared on dVerse presented by Mary, who also furnished the photo used in the post unfortunately for me, I’m very late writing and posting this … but I thought the prompt was lovely so participated anyway in the comments. To all of you who read this post, I’d really encourage you to click the link where you’ll find many more haibun and of course the prompt!  Ciao, Bastet.