The China Painters

They have set aside their black tin boxes, 
scratched and dented,
spattered with drops of pink and blue; 
and their dried-up, rolled-up tubes 
of alizarin crimson, chrome green, 
zinc white, and ultramarine;
their vials half full of gold powder; 
stubs of wax pencils;
frayed brushes with tooth-bitten shafts; 
and have gone in fashion and with grace 
into the clouds of loose, lush roses, 
narcissus, pansies, columbine, 
on teapots, chocolate pots,
saucers and cups, the good Haviland dishes 
spread like a garden
on the white lace Sunday cloth, 
as if their souls were bees
and the world had been nothing but flowers.