Arranging The Pasteboard Furniture (Final Version) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

arranging the pasteboard furniture
in the dollhouse, won't the
summer be fine? and

edged in the lace of Queen Anne;
diecut valentines
the elegant names of the meadow

flowers, flowers all under the blue

sanctuary of skies
we'll scatter so pinkly there;
where cloudlike, again the bride doll glimmers

for her 100th rehearsal
confetti coming down and the
little ice cream trucks

with their snow cone variations
on a theme

and you, will you hold aloft
as carefully as you please
in your school

cherry coughdrop reveries
her sequined train trailing
the clover-starry grass, or will I?

while the Queen stares into
her looking glass a little distracting
in a cherry trimmed gown

breaking the clasp on
her favorite jade necklace.
alas! you cry in your sleep

where all afternoon you practiced scales
up and down, on all the toy pianos in town
in a sing-songing, silvering sound,

faintly in daylight
tracing through music
your very own

Milky Way

mary angela douglas 25 june 2015l19 january 2024