Lemonade Shade Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

LEMONADE SHADE

a beautiful kingdom came floating down
in candy cane December
or in pink frosted birthday surprise

so we thought it could be
and so it was
Glinda or godmother (Grandmother?)

with their wands
the Fairy Queen in rose froth
with little silver stars

(that's our Mama)
in the jewelry box tune
where ballerinas always turn.

now there's stars all over the floor
and the dolls recite all that they've learned
about the Great Explorers

in coloured chalk when we do their talking
for them
how will we explain it to Grandmother

coming in to check our room for neatness
on a Saturday afternoon that they've left
their balloons all over the fair grounds

cotton candy, too sticky candy

when we have been playing with all the toys at once
as though they were a toy tribe
and all the villagers came out to greet us

as we were wearing our peasant skirts
our gipsy blouses with the Mardis Gras beads.
once more to the Monopoly board

where they live invisibly in little green
and red houses, or hotels? the populace.
and eat tiny rolls with real butter

perhaps hearing the trains go by
the winds ruffling the wheat fields or see
the Tinker Toys simulating "progress"

in between meals of marshmallows
what will you have for tea
murmured the princess graciously

she could afford to be gracious
in her lemon silk
carrying her perpetual bouquet of tea roses

and the refeshing ferns.
let's go by the creek
and gather small stones

and build a fortress of magic
and watch the water bubbling over the milky quartz,
the Monarchs sail by orange as popsicles

and dip our toes in between the crawdads
there are no crawdads in Fairy Land
oops I forgot...

let the bubbling stream live
the villagers coming out of their immaculate homes,
where even the sock drawers are perfect;

dollhouses dreamed of, Play houses built to scale
with pink stoves...we wished for another day
and the angels rain down glitter on our parades.

we'll find it all in Heaven again, finger painted!
the two teddies waltzing endlessly...
stashed in a lemonade shade.

mary angela douglas 30 june 2018