He Only Smiled Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

there was: in the yellow shadows on the lawn
a looking back, as if at the back of the beyond:
over an angel's shoulder

something stopped - as by a rest, at the end

of the bar- a music of yellow splashed on green
in patches of why did you use that colour
they asked the artist later

at the soiree where they served up pineapple punch
from a cut glass bowl on a bright green tablecloth
and noting this, he only smiled.

mary angela douglas 21 august 2015