Rainbow in Balata

Meadow Dream by St Lucian painter Shallon Fadlien.

Meadow Dream.  Copyright © 2016 by Shallon Fadlien.

 

(for SF)

A story for you—

            in late afternoon drizzle

coming home through familiar Balata

its blossoming gardens of mangoes, gloricidia

 

            and palms’ branches like multi-winged cherubim — in that light

a huge rainbow, close as heaven, spectrum a palette

of red to indigo and her sister violet

 

            and I saw the end down a footpath

settled like a full-bodied beauty on a bench

under a breadfruit tree, there off Balata —

 

            this true story is for you and the un-looked-for embrace

of the arms of your tender-hued interest

which surprised me, coming round this bend, like that arc-en-ciel.

 

John Robert Lee is a St Lucian poet and contributing editor of ArtsEtc. His latest publication is City Remembrances: Poems (Mahanaim, 2016).       

Shallon Fadlien, born in St Lucia and now based in Canada, is an artist who works primarily in acrylics. Bold colours and simple lines are integral to her compositions as she explores themes of fantasy, love and life.