In "The Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck, who says the line, "Looks like a quick puff of colored smoke?"

These words are the inquiry of the tinker who speaks with
Elisa Allan in John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums."  After Elisa tells him that she
has nothing for him to repair, the tinker looks at the chrysanthemum bed where Elisa has
been working.  He asks what kind of plant they are.  Delighted that someone shows
interest in her flowers, Elisa replies that they are chrysanthemums that she raises
every year.  Then the tinker asks,

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"Kind of a long-stemmed flower?  Looks like a
quick puff of colored
smoke!"

With this simile,
Elisa is delighted by the figurative language and the man's imagination in contrast to
her husband's literal and pratical language.  When the tinker expresses a desire to have
some of the chrysanthemums' seeds, Elisa eagerly replies that she can put some in damp
sand for him to carry with him.  The excitement of Elisa as she pots some of the flowers
for the tinker indicates how starved she has been for "a quick puff of colored smoke" of
imagination.