and calm the placid afternoon. the house you grew up in. peter, paul, and mary.

it is the painting

of a sailing ship with sails

distended above the sea

frothy as a coca-cola

santa claus

it is the classic way

the sun shines across

roads that head toward the corn

and the way you will sometimes

realize or not realize

the love you bear 

when the air smells like green and pollen

yes i do understand

how this all seems

so placidly bourgeois
placed in matte-board
of the color mauve
and a frame of sandy oak
comment on tannins and other things
we do not understand
you can feel for yourself how it puckers

you can feel for yourself how sunlight
sometimes is not real sunlight
like peter, paul, and mary
how can any day be as beautiful as this when
measured in the angle of your eyes
toward a spot how many hours away?

it is the painting
above distended couch fabric
it is the way that nice things go
the way that florals make no scenery
and the patterns feature ribbons or
figures of people at windows where
sunlight could not be threaded
and little clocks of blue and lampposts and things
are papered down the walls.