AWNING

a hot hot day in seoul
our rooftop beckons again
last saturday morning
your fireseed got badly sunburnt
did i tell you how our luvly roof umbrella
either got nicked or blew away one night?
this morning
i get the idea of putting up a makeshift awning
(dig that for a rhyming couplet)
using an old exotic-smelling sheet
of multicoloured paisley fabric
which i bought in india
i tie two of the corners to a couple of rusty old nails
banged high up into the cement of the rooftop storeroom
i tie long pieces of string to the other corners
and attach them to the edge of the parapet
and hey presto!
we have shade
despite the heat
an occasional gust of wind whips up
catching the awning
making it billow like a sail
it comes loose a few times and i have to refix it
but eventually it is all rigged up successfully
a little bit of exotic colour
flapping about among the staid rooftops of mangwon
hannah elisabeth and i have breakfast
i read my book
i nod off
lazing on a sunny afternoon