Hydromancy

To the heron, a marsh pool is a struggling inmate.
Barbs dishevelled, shivering, it keeps the water still
with the anaesthetic needle of its leg. And then, when it
kicks off, the ever-patient bird gets surgical.

*

The girl you like is showering. She’ll dance to her showers’
hot whim, so come on, wield the chain of water
and whip her back, spank her rump, trouble her to tears -
see her stagger, whimper, like a grazed bullfighter.

*

“Rainmaking’s easy,” you tell me. “I just mull
over my misfortune, or someone else’s
for weeks at a time, and soon, voila – rainfall.”
I try it but instead get a mouthful of ulcers.

*

That kid in the swimming pool thinks he’s Son Goku!
Sweeping up the water into spume explosion
after spume explosion, but inaccurate – berserker!
You jump in – someone’s got to show him how it’s done.

*

I’m glad I’m older. All it used to take to make me hide
was watching Pat’s van nearly slam into Ted Glenn,
and all it used to take to make me blubber and flood
the room was It’s Too Late, La Luna or Downtown.

*

The shower’s on upstairs. The bathroom light has blown.
Who’d shower in the dark? And do you dare eavesdrop?
You live alone! Your enemy has followed you from town!
Time to play with sorcery and turn on the hot tap.