WHILE PLAYING THE BOARD GAME CANDYLAND

 

while playing the board game Candyland at five

with my sister often I felt such elation

as though there were really such a place

and with each turn we took we were getting closer to it

I remember the birds chirpity chirping outside our window

as we played, the tilt of butterscotch sunlight on the floor

the feeling of time and space so particoloured comfortable

in candyland

the charming peppermint latitudes, the storybook as it's

lived,

not only read.

surely we are getting farther on 

decades later

to that shangrila of gumdrops, pleasant colours

certain footfall on the path that can only land us on a

floating island

where everything is done up in pastels

and we are just maypole streaming happy; at home with

the ice cream cone towers' curb appeal

at the end of the game.

melting into the afternoon, and supper, afterwards.

mary angela douglas 7 march 2023