LEMON SKY

 

Who can say with certainty

The lemon sky in the poem is not

A kind of lie by the poet

Who never thought of the sky that way

And if the sky were in fact on the witness stand

It would say so in a cloudy language but nevertheless clear

Or partly clear

In between gales of rain and flights of bluebirds

Under a lemon sky perhaps the poet made a fortune

The sky gets no royalties

Only the satisfaction of knowing

That it can turn to lemon

Anytime the Lord God pleases to make it happen.

and I will raise a glass of iced instant tea

from former days since I may no longer drink tea

With its splash of lemon

And nothing else added

To the sparkling and icy fact that

Yes, this is the truth.

And this poem means what it says

In a delicate way

And this poet loves,

You can and you may be certain, in fact,

The lemon sky.

mary angela douglas 21 june 2024