Arcadia, The Word Is Like A Cherry Lozenge

Arcadia, the word is like a cherry lozenge on the tongue
or butter rum my sister proposed
looking up from the swing sitting idle

in the sunlight
peripatetic child of music.
and now we're seeking the names of clouds

and we are far from trouble in the blue isles
sprouting wings and laughing sporadically
in cumulo nimbus, cumulo stratus, cirrus

cirrus, circuses in green and the tightrope lady
in pink sequined skirts
and this is our just desserts

we say, scooping into the fudge sundaes
or playing in the sprinkler on
hot Arkansas days

when the roses boil
and summer lasts till Christmas.

mary angela douglas 28 june 2016