E-Verse Radio
  • About
    • Disclaimer
    • Videos
    • Subscribe
  • Ernest Hilbert’s Books

“The Chances” by Christopher Bullard

By Ernest Hilbert • February 25, 2017 • E-Verse Universe

A man on the subway platform is carrying an umbrella. Someone asks him, “Is it supposed to rain?” The man with the umbrella responds with a discussion of cumulus and cumulo-nimbus cloud formation. He describes the earth’s energy budget and the differences between warm and cold fronts. He diagrams the local weather map on the floor of the subway platform and explains what weather forecasters mean when they say there’s a twenty percent chance of rain. “So, you’re saying it’s going to rain,” a woman exclaims, but the man with the umbrella responds that there are no certainties in weather, that it’s all a matter of probabilities, that it might rain, or it might not, and that even the nature of rain, that is, what rain is, as opposed to other forms of precipitation, is only a matter of critical judgment. When a guy in a suit says, “You’re not telling us anything,” the man strolls to the middle of the subway platform and puts up his umbrella. It starts to rain.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Comments

comments

bullardclimateclimate changeglobal warming poempoempoetry
Tweet
0
"Eye of the Beholder" by Danielle Livingston
    Literary Matters Reviews Ernest Hilbert's Book Caligulan

    About the Author

    ernest@everseradio.com'

    Ernest Hilbert

    Ernest Hilbert is founder of E-Verse Radio.

    Search E-Verse

    Subscribe to E-Verse

    Get new posts by email:

    Follow Along

    Videos

    Audio

    Facebook Twitter Soundcloud Youtube RSS

    Made with in Philly

    © 2018 E-Verse Radio All rights reserved.