Palette

It was the gray furniture I chose to buy.
The pandemic caused shortages.
I wasn’t sure the likes of elephant skin gray, dolphin gray,
or tree bark gray could wow or enhance my living room.
I say, “It’s the yellow walls that matter.” Benjamin Moore
paint offers a Hawthorne yellow which glows amber.
It is also an exterior color seen on two hundred year old
colonial houses. It suits my walls.

I chose poetic pillows: “Happiness depends upon ourselves.”
Not that I love throw pillows all that much. They cannot replace
a bed pillow for comfort. Decorators call them accent pillows.
Leave them on an unoccupied chair, accent complete.

A crafter from Etsy made them. I presume they saw this room.
The pillow is gray, yellow, white and black, patterned in swatches,
a random collage. Butterflies, three black chickens, (which I could
have sworn were crows from the online image), vines, leaves, flowers
and a hashtag of stripes comprise this collage. My curiosity kills me
when it comes to the chicken wire fence. It looks like the chickens
flew the coop proudly perched up on that branch.

I add some furniture scarves which are the same color as the pillows.
Tiny flowers, berries, vines, kittens, butterflies and tiny black, white- haired
nymphs which appear to present as female sit amongst the flora.
I believe I chose this wonderland to keep fantasy alive in my living room,
lend some magic to a mundane moment.

New lamps seem to be in order. They are metal, donning black leafy vines,
with white shades. I imagine the cats and nymphs will someday escape their
lair, hoist themselves onto the vined lamp, sit pretty grinning at me
like the Cheshire Cat. Then they’ll swing off the lamp, plop into my
cold drink, talk gibberish while swimming in my Pino Grigio.

July 2021