Rainin' on the parade

Rain strobe goin' in springtime Portland;
Drenching downpours 'tween bright, short sun breaks;
Life in Willamette Valley;

Got caught under an old redbud
Fall rain fall, like no man's bizness
Broad green heart-shaped umbrellas;

Foliage:  gentle cacophony;
Insistent hiss on black pavement:
Each splash its splosh evoking;

Reminded me of walking that day
Rose City streets with March Forth band
Plus peaceniks more in thousands;

March seventeen, two-thousand eight;
It was rainin' that day, for sure;
A hoot and cheer, we put up;

Do tell: did you notice my despair
When joyous voices rose above the din
As wartime thunder cracked above us?

My fault, brothers; all my fault;
Can you believe I almost forgot-- ?
But never mind; the rain's stopped;