A Black Umbrella

Everyone should have a black umbrella
to be protected from all the evils of life.

Everyone should have it in case of
an emergency.

It will not burn in the acid rain,
and it will neatly fold in your briefcase.

Or you can spear somebody with it
and watch the blood flow.

Everybody should have it.
Everybody should be protected from the rain of life.

I once saw a woman cry,
so I opened my black umbrella
so that I could not see her face.

All the darkest dreams are concealed
by a black umbrella.

Sometimes I feel very lonely
underneath my umbrella,
but I do not want to share it with others.

I'm sure that they will steal it.

In this bloody world everyone
needs a black umbrella.

All the hatred, all the diseases
are hiding in its dark nylon.

What would I do without it?

Will I be blinded by the sun?

Every face hides behind a black umbrella,
Every heart cries behind a black umbrella,
Every soul is bruised by its metal ribs.

O the black umbrella of the universe,
I want to tear your thick fabric and see the light.
My umbrella, your umbrella, his umbrella—
We are all but shadows.

Black umbrella, you will not leave me,
you will always be there above my head,
reminding me of the impending doom
and death.

I hate you, black umbrella, I honestly hate you.

You criticize everything that I do.
You treat me like a naughty child.

You make me secure by your insecurity.

Leave me alone!  I don't want you!
I want to be free for once.
I'm not afraid of the rain.

And sometimes I cry underneath my
black umbrella, and the people
walk by and think that I'm crazy.

Why do you cry if you have your black umbrella?

They don't know of their prison.
And how could I tell them?

I'm not a weatherman and I can't tell them
when the rain will stop.

So I weep in my loneliness.

Black umbrella, black umbrella, black umbrella...
 

                                                  December 27, 1987
                                               --Alexander Shaumyan