Finding The Things In The Picture Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

well here's that Umbrella you lost
right beside the Parrot in the upside down cage;
the cerise one you bought in the drugstore

by the cash register, on an afterthought.
and then, it didn't rain.
and here's your old

Windup Alarm Clock:

lime green with a navy face;
huge numerals in white that glowed,
topped with alarm bells; that's why

they called it that, you know. and here's your
Easter Hat, the one you wish still fit you-
crowned with realistic cherries.

was there ever any hat more beautiful?
a China Tea Set made for the Queen's own dolls
still packed in straw with those Vocabulary Lists

you forgot to memorize- Pale April's Shade;

and just inside the Big Clown's other pocket.
the other one holding, to our collective grade school gasp-

a Strawberry Ice Cream Cone,
quite smashed.

mary angela douglas 4 january 2016