Umbrella
A Journal of Poetry and Kindred Prose


Janet Kenny

was born in New Zealand and has worked as singer in Britain. In Australia she worked in general publishing and in anti-nuclear-war politics; she co-edited and wrote Beyond Chernobyl.

Her poems have been published in The Book of Hope, a joint chapbook with Jerry H. Jenkins, and in journals such as The Barefoot Muse, The Chimaera, and The Raintown Review.




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Rain From a Blue Sky

Like woodcut lines the golden rain slants down
through sunlight in a vision from Japan.
Blue sky with rain. Does English have a noun
for rain from skies so blue? A new köan.

One hand claps and a miracle appears:
white-gold, bright-green, clear-blue, wash clean your sight
with strokes like tears, or iridescent spears
cut by a master, lasered thin with light.

Hold it and print it on your inward eye.
Press firm to fix down rain on plain blue sky.