' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' Parallel Universe(For Junie) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Hopelessly I stand
curls plastered to my skull

the bus stop
sprouting mushroom umbrellas

each passing bus
that doesn't stop

splashing us
...we curse.

But I inhabit
a parallel universe

of rain
when I was nine

much more real
than this

the rain my friend
its fingers

caressing
my upturned face

curls plastered
to my skull

walking hand
in hand

with June

warmed as I am
now

by her lips
laughter

still my name

forever living
in her smile.