One Winter I Dreamed Of White Wicker Furniture

[for Katharine Hepburn (inspired by the biographies of Anne Edwards, A. Scott Berg, the photos of John Bryson and an actual dream).]

one winter I dreamed of white wicker furniture

for the world and an endless picnic.

what if it came true?

all the sandwiches renewed we've long

forgotten about.

egg olive sandwiches, remember?

on toast, and a toothpick through the olive on top.

chicken salad of course, green grapes or red?

Katharine Hepburn said green,

without question, of course she did;

how else would she say it?

and pimento cheese, made from scratch

and wrapped in wax paper.

baked chicken, maybe fried

and potato salad in myriad variations:

pickled everything.

and jam made out of stars

or the strawberry moon.

pink marbled cake or Lady Baltimore.

and maybe we're at Fenwick,

and maybe not says Katharine

firmly, spelled with an A

why can't they get it right

she groused to her biographer

and planted a sigh: keep off the

stars, respect your Queen.  please, thank you

on her own planetary lawn that's

rife with Queen Anne's lace

even now

mary angela douglas 5 november 2013