Rainy Saturdays, Consulting The Dictionary Of Prisms

such things to do on a rainy Saturday we children knew

such as thumbing through the dictionary of prisms

the birds of the world in tinted photographs

the spectrum as it all breaks down for the color wheels

of the saints

into a thousand thousand Christmas colours at their zenith

and Space as seen in indigo, even in ultraviolet.

this is how I remember Saturday and especially

summer freedoms, the days of the jeweled rains

when telling time

by the rainbows on the wall was superfine

as child bright ardour

even in a squall was more than a pastime struck by

the endless refractions of light into magical brinkmanship:

the seed pearl destinations of the dolls

the birds going nowhere

somewhat stationary on the page

but so resplendent, visionary

our book reports on the field guide to the gems

of North America, using every crayon we had.

and how my little sister sparkled in the thought of peridot green.

mary angela douglas 29 august 2021

1Mary Angela Douglas

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