["Je te defendrai a la derniere carriere."*
-Mary, Queen of Scots]
the documents the queen must never see
are locked inside a cloud that
cannot weep
and it will take too long to
cast off the embroidery
that could have caused true
rescuers to come
not many ivory ships
will sail until:
you waken, foundered,
in a green wood
and witnesses are called
who have no voice-
a shimmering rush of wings:
the tongue-cut sparrows
lace the sky
lace the sky
with warnings bright as tromp l'oeil patterns
through the window of
the last cell
mary angela douglas 2 november 2005/10 november 2005
copyright 2006
*"I shall defend Thee while I still draw air."
