‘If the Queen Shows up in a Double Rainbow’ and ‘Teardrop Pearls’
by Mitzi Dorton
Could a spirit
Paint technicolor blends
Light up watercolor,
An invitation
To dazzle
With outpouring mystery,
Ghost strands
Delivery by the Queen,
To say, I’m here, folks,
Trooping the colors
Of my earthly fashion,
In otherworld magic
Signs
After death,
Wouldn’t they come
From a mother, too,
Who bangs on the glass
At the emergency room,
The desk ladies talking,
Lost in their own family sagas
While I shake involuntarily,
From sleeping in the quiet heat
Of a fall afternoon,
The half-dying wasp landing on my forehead
She gets me in, my queen,
Moments away from some ill fate
And upon her own finale,
A double rainbow,
Twin arches of prism blends
Soothe my mourning,
This perfect prescription,
Demands notice!
Teardrop Pearls
I was the toddler,
Who buried my head in your black mouton coat,
While Daddy drove us to see the Christmas lights
Your skin was soft with cold cream,
As you pressed your face to my cheek,
Blue magic strung on branches, white candles,
Against the dark
Your hat an arch of black feathers and netting
I dreamed of you finding an opening,
In your early days of passing
As you escaped to me,
Holding my back in a hug,
Where I slept hunched, against
Your balled up comforter,
Marshmallow of solace
You came dressed in your 1940s Victory suit,
A lily of the valley headpiece,
Teardrop pearls,
Showing me there was a gap,
A small opening, that bright light
You parted and climbed,
Through the space in the petals of a giant hibiscus,
Like a tiny fairy angel,
My free-winged Mama,
My once earth-anchor, among the planets.
A multi-genre writer, Mitzi Dorton has work in Rattle, Southern Literary Review, Poetry South, Oxford Magazine (Golden Ox Micro-Flash Contest finalist), "Rise," Northern Colorado Writers, (Colorado Book Award in anthology, 2020), and many others. She is author of the book, "Chief Corn Tassel," Finishing Line Press, (Literary Global Book Award finalist in history and biography).
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