It's Penny Candy Maybe They Think

[where troubles melt like lemon drops
away above the chimney tops
that's where you'll find me!

-Somewhere Over The Rainbow (lyrics, Yip Harburg;
melody, Harold Arlen)]

it's penny candy maybe they think
whenever you start to sing;
anyone on any day could do that;

penny candies, easy to arrange
them in the see-through jars on the counter
so that they look resplendent.

but God in his rainbow diction knows
exactly what it costs, the orange, the rose
the ultraviolet blue

and so would you
if you tried to do it.

or were ever around
when the lemon sounds come down
and it rains lemon drops all day

in such out-of-the-way places!

mary angela douglas 1 february 2016