As If On A Porch By Childe Hassam Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

as if on a porch by Childe Hassam
in a lily rosed light I lifted lightly
the evening shade

with my still, pearled insteps

to see what once was clear
be clear no more
and stood near the open door

and would not could not
walk there anymore
and this is the porch of late evening

or it has become that
tinted of twilight
brimming the teacups with dusks

I can't contain
and so it spills over staining
in deep blues and greens

these shadows about to turn the corner
of a faraway music you only hear
this late in the year, this late:

in a dress of lawn
in the aftermath
of tears

mary angela douglas 29 july 2015