Tuesday, March 17, 2015

In the city this spring (Poem)

In the city this spring

rain falls like gold
icing the sidewalk
cracks fill with leaves

of jasmine tea drained
through a sieve of clouds
swept suddenly away

wind brings its chaos
of souvenirs: scents
of citrus and hyacinth

— sky jacket and china
pink — the show-
stopping ballerina

tulip and star-shaped
lilac spicy sweet, plum
honeying the clustered

buds as the fountain
of glistening tuberose
dares the four-petaled

mock orange to slip out
beneath sun, find shade
before the stars break

our concentration
we linger on a breath
taste how air's gone

thick this Hawaiian night

© 2015 Maureen E. Doallas

6 comments:

Lauren Farrow said...

oh I like that! I especially like the last part where I discover I am in Hawaii:

... our concentration
we linger on a breath
taste how air's gone

thick this Hawaiian night

Peggy Rosenthal said...

Oooooh, I'm luxuriating in the luscious scents of this poem. It's a poem I'll hold onto till spring comes up in the frozen north where I live: our only smell in the air right now is the frosen rot from filthy banks of old snow along the streets.

emmett wheatfall said...

Beautiful. Love the way your stanzas descend from the heavens intermixed with great metaphors.

Britton Swingler said...

"...jasmine tea drained through a sieve of clouds" is when I started to smell the delicious scents and see the bright colors all around me. And at the end, when I was standing in Hawaii, I could feel the balmy warmth and the promise of relaxation.

My Inner Chick said...

— sky jacket and china
pink — the show-
stopping ballerina**

YESSSSSS.

Stunning piece.

Charles said...

Lovely poem, Maureen! Thank you for sharing it.