"Brolly Good"

It doesn't pay
To be greedy
Could be someone else
Much more needy.
Earlier I got off a bus
At Crystal Palace
Umbrella on the pavement
Right in front of me
Snatched it up with no malice.
It was bone dry
Despite the wet floor
Probably just dropped
Exiting my bus door.
Bent down and snatched
Never felt bolder
Expecting a tap
On my shoulder.
I didn't care
If the previous owner saw
Standing there
With an open jaw.
Now I'm sat downstairs
On another bus
An even better brolly
In front of me
Compared to the first.
Temptingly greedy
But I don't want a fuss
It looks even more sturdy
I'm no brolly thief Mr. Big
So it stays where it is
And I continue to be be wordy.

Dulwich Poet 4th January 2014

(I found an umbrella, dropped by someone in Crystal Palace. When I got on the bus I'm sitting on, later in the day, in Waterloo, there was one left at the front on the bus, on the empty luggage section, and it was still there when I got off in Sydenham)