To Those Who Painted The Incipient Wave Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

to those who painted the incipient wave,
the last foretold-
instead of getting out of town

what prize can be given?

a deeper blue wash on a canvas, soft green;
the starfish descending?
the last gleam of the sky?

to those who persisted at the mouth of Floods,
what words are there?
only a pearl silence,

a floating pier; upended,
the peach parasols of
small children-

going by.

mary angela douglas 16 june 2014