emergency poncho

on days when it rains
I wear an emergency poncho
it is green
it is from a two dollar shop
it sometimes rips because it
is plastic
but it works ok

in storms
the hood must be zipped tightly over my face to
buffer the weather
especially when there are gale force winds
I
wrap myself around other bodies I
get lost in my own shapelessness
I take my hair out
hoping it will soak up the raindrops
I
cling to other peoples' knees
even if they are standing in puddles
(I know what bad knees are like
and they are worse in the rain)

when you are wearing an emergency poncho
you can't see much but
this is good because
it means
other people can't see you and
you can hide yourself in the folds of another and
you can't see them properly but
this is good because
then you can
pretend they are someone else and
you can hide yourself inside the hidden person's
poncho and
you can tell yourself
you are holding onto a different body
but really all you are holding onto is
an emergency poncho
which really is actually just emergency
plastic

still -
it is called an emergency poncho because
it is best used in an emergency
for example
when you are unsure which container to put your biscuits in or
you can't recall what you ate for dinner last monday or
you have forgotten the way to an old friend's house or
you realise you have forgotten how to arrange your face
then you will definitely need a poncho
and you will definitely be grateful about the
zippable hood

but then as you are zipping up the hood
the draw string falls out.
then you are in the shit.
the wind is going to blow all in your face
with its gale force
and you will grow larger
because you are in your emergency poncho
and wind does that to ponchos and
maybe if you are lucky
your feet will leave the ground a little bit
and you will suddenly realise how heavy gravity is but
you will be getting quite wet and rained on and so
it will almost not be worth your anti-gravity experience
but still a little bit valuable
and then you will just be confused
about whether floating is a good thing or not
(it is probably not)

but anyway
you are floating whether it is
good or not
so while you are up there you take the time to look down, which causes you to notice that
eight other people are also in emergency ponchos
(and therefore must also be in states of emergency
also known as 'crisis') and
not only that but
two of them are in green ponchos -
that is
THE SAME COLOUR PONCHO as you -
and so even though you are floating a little higher you might
feel a little bit less alone

until you notice that the two green
ponchos are getting along just
fine
with each other
and then even though you are also green
you're not quite sure if you fit in because
everyone says that
"three's a crowd!"
and quite enthusiastically, too
so it must be true
and anyway
you have changed your mind about floating again, it
is good

the biggest problem about
floating in an emergency poncho is that
there is no safety mechanism for when the
gale force winds
can't hold you up any more and
as luck would have it
you are going to land right on top of the other two green ponchos.
WHAM.
they look a little confused
but you just ignore this because
it is quite nice to have bodies beneath you
it is quite nice to give weight into someone
it is quite nice to have someone
with weight
who can stop the gale force winds from floating you away
we should all be good friends with
gravity

but if you can't be good friends with gravity
then I would definitely recommend that you
absolutely without a doubt must
must
must
invest in an emergency poncho
because
I'm telling you,
a situation like
this is an emergency