A Refuge of Color     

by Marcia Mitrowski                                                             


On mornings dark as shadows
or stained hopes, they enter
the classroom, silky hijabs
in luscious hues, peony reds
and lipstick pinks, delta greens
submerged with aquamarine
where I never waded or swam,
sunlight yellower than Van Gogh
or Turner landscapes. I lose
my breath suffocated by beauty,
abayas awash in swirling patterns
moving against legs and thighs
as they rush to their seats, I see
fields of foreign vegetation on
the cascading material, how they
possess the earth and its contours
on diaphanous fabric richer than gold.


* * * * *

Marcia Mitrowski has spent her lifetime teaching English, music and the humanities in a variety of settings. The last twenty years she taught English as a Second Language to refugees and immigrants from numerous war-torn countries. She also worked as a Young Adult and Reference Librarian. She paints, gardens, volunteers as a docent at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, enjoys music and taking long walks in Western New York.