Taken from: Seeing Emily by Joyce Lee Wong (p 132-133)
CONFIDING IN ALEX
When I went to work
on the mural the next day
Alex was already there.
He looked up from the painting
with a smile of greeting
then studied me for a moment
and asked, "Is something wrong?"
I found myself telling him
about the test
and he nodded sympathetically.
"No one wants to disappoint
their parents,"he said.
He thought for a moment, then said,
"You've done well
on the other math tests, haven't you?"
I nodded and he said,
"The semester's not over yet.
I think you can still make up for this one."
His smile was so kind
I found myself smiling back.
Just then, I noticed
what Alex was painting,
a group of ferns,
the fronds curling at the tips
like peacock feathers,
their thin-fingered leaves
ranging in the shade
from brilliant blue-green
to cool slate-gay,
te color of the sky just before
it releases a gentle spring rain.
"What do you think?" Alex asked.
"It's perfect," I said,
meaning it.
I picked up a brush
and when I started to paint
I felt something like calm
settling over me
like the mist that follows
a shower in May,
the wet air diffusing
the wam yellow sun
shining through.
Sometimes
on a day like this
if you're lucky enough,
you migt even see
a fragment of rainbow
spreading itself
across the sky.
