Cinderella And The Question Of The Dress Or Another Variation On The Story (Final Version) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

there should be hidden panels in the dress
with embroideries of traceries of the most cherished flowers
and when she began to dance they bloomed
with slippers to match to a music box tune
so many ways we imagined her; my sister and I,
colouring it in on a Saturday:
with velvet panniers. a skirt of tulle festooned with little stars
and in pale blue, pausing on the staircase
where even the shadows sing
and their song is of violets
even though it's blanched white winter outside
and the true heart mysteriously must abide,
is a missed target while sealed valentines
with dovelike paper wings flitter away:
at large in a doll sized snippy land.
the pink dress at last, we fairy godmother command!
wirh an overlay of purple netting.

mary angela douglas 21 november 2021; 31 march 2023