The Poem About Pastels

well I remember pastel weddings

the fetes of my Grandmother's piano pupils

where she played the wedding march for them

usually the Mendelsohn

and my sister and I were the rice girls for awhile

also in pastels and giddy at the thought of more

lime sherbet punch which was quite popular then

and even now I wouldn't mind crystal quaffing that frothy pale green

delight, loading up on wedding mints in pastel too;

nothing is like pastel sugar wafers and salted nuts

we concealed as many as we could in the delicate paper napkins

such pirates we were but full of heart

throwing the rice bags at bride and groom as hard as we could

because our thought was the harder we threw them the more the good luck conferred

nevertheless we were suspended from duty as well meaning little girls

because the celebrants were getting bruises from the rice in its pretty net bags

so we consoled ourselves with caramels at Halloween.

and the fact we still had pastels galore at home

in the candy box shades the rooms were all painted in

the sunrise and sunsets out of doors.

mary angela douglas 5 november 2021