Brass Kaleidoscope

 My daughter raises the smooth
 brass kaleidoscope
 and watches as coloured glass slivers
 conspire together.

 New worlds create themselves before her eyes.

 Garnet spires flirt with sapphire
 and turquoise.

 Topaz and amethyst meet in harmony,
 a selenic mystery.

 A melody of stars singing a tune only she
 can hear.

 Eclectic patterns shiver and shimmer
 then splinter,
 sparking off at tangents of
 tourmaline and jasper.

 An image complete in itself.




 I had a kaleidoscope once.

 Sometimes
 I still see oblique patterns.


 Slowly my daughter turns the wheel, finds
 a jewelled tapestry 
 to her liking, and hands the kaleidoscope
 to me.

 For a time I see the world she sees
 and it is good.
 


*First published LiNQ October 1990

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