Midnight Snow Will Be Forming

midnight snow will be forming

soundless words on a

page of

branches-

angels scored on lamplight

in an endless tally
silently you will gather

all sadness in.

let me live in the

startling air,

your reverie and

the sudden blossoming snow-

mary angela douglas 2 december 2000/30 may 2005

I Washed My Hands In The Snow

I washed my hands in the snow

of your attrition:

it was time to go.

holding onto the sleeves

of your angels and

paying attention to

the night skies-

I gave you this worn out

constellation-

knowing it was not enough-

mary angela douglas 30 july 2001

Lost At These Frail Latitudes, I

lost at these frail latitudes I

still exist: to measure the

snows of silence I

don't understand

bearing your wavelength like a crown

and living out a language that's

not finished yet-

I monitor the surface

the ground-

resting near a window onto space-

mary angela douglas 23 january 2003/30 may 2005

Tears Of The First Magnitude

tears of the first magnitude,

the second, the third,

filling the terraces

of night, dark night, and

darkest night.

in a more and more intricate

dream, I woke up, still

weeping in my dream, tears

of the first magnitude and

the second, and the third...

mary angela douglas 15 december 1997

I Have Wandered in White Kingdoms

I have wandered in white kingdoms

where the bleached lights

lingered

over an expanse like tears

suspended, like

tears suspended-

white

leaves enveined

could not bear their own silver

or the ache of a

winter existence extended beyond-

any plausible contract-

mary angela douglas 11 december 2004

Broken On The Shore

broken on the shore

with your broken images-

I am still alive

reversals are carried by

the heart that can't

sustain them;

released like fireflies

into the sun,

messages are not conveyed

I am still alive

waves of light are deflected

waves of tears are not

still, these fragments shine

I am still alive

and my tears burn an

aperture through

these skies of endless steel

mary angela douglas 13 november 1999/28 august 2005

Manuscripts Don't Burn*

the poems of the stars are

gone, and fire-spared

never endings-

lost as the silent reaches

their language was intended

for:

and overreaching love

in its Icarian phase.

but I am sinking, snow-deep,

in sound, but I am on

the first page, again

of skies no power can consume-

regaining your syllable after

syllable-

mary angela douglas 22 february 2001/28 august 2005

*refers to line in Mikhail Bulgakov's Novel The Master and Margarita:

"Didn't you know that manuscripts don't burn?"

The Trees Shake Out Their Tears

the trees shake out their tears

in late December

against a childhood backdrop and a

lavender sky

the princess in the play

will never smile

in a free country this

will be seen as

treason or at least,

a failure to grow up

but no one will be able to

improve on this play

and in unreconstructed

balcony scenes

across the footlights she

may show

what it feels like to be living this way

mary angela douglas 31 may 2005

Remonstrating Angels Restrained My Hands

remonstrating angels restrained my hands

my tears were caught up in the sun

my lamentations

hidden by sudden snowfall

all the papers can't be filed

all the papers won't be read

or signed

in another kingdom we were

drenched with sudden rainbows

monuments were made of flowers

leaders were neither made

nor born

my heart my heart

was never torn-

mary angela douglas april 2004

My Heart, My Dream, My Radiance

my heart, my dream, my radiance

the key breaks off like

wax

fullness is not gathered-

holy image within image

if I could break all their

mirrors designed for looking

past you--

the soul of my soul in

weeping endlessly

configures endless light

mary angela douglas 5 april 2001

Madonna Of All Stillness (variation)

Madonna of all stillness

of intransigent peace

I will begin like snow, again

all roads of light will

meet in you

to clear the whitest whiteness

so far from all this to

break the crystal air with

my sigh:

there is no circumference of tears of

poetry in flight of hidden

sudden departure

you have turned on your starlit heel

banished with all your snows and

now:

there is no end to searching for

another way out

but we will live on in this

orphaned kingdom

diverting all streams to your

cause

mary angela douglas 5 april 2001/30 august 2005

Madonna Of All Stillness, 1

Madonna of all stillness.

Madonna of intransigent peace-

all the roads of light will

surely

meet in you.

there is no circumference of tears, of

banished snows, of poetry

in flight-

there is no end to searching for

another

since no altar on earth is free

from mothlike devotion:

guard the candle of my soul-

mary angela douglas 5 april 2001

I Was Living On A Different Floor

I was living on a different floor

you couldn't understand how I

even got in the building

but I was really there-

watching the snow fill up

the courtyard

watching the skies and their

flurries of birds

trying not to break-

praying the moon would just glaze over.

I left to get groceries

a thousand angels had to help me

get back in.

mary angela douglas 2 may 1999

Who Will Wake The Sleeping Angels

who will wake the sleeping angels

or pass through fire as if through

water?

questions arose in dreams

unsifted gold,

they were never answered

sighs were rewarded with

sighs

those who wrote of this were

condemned

mary angela douglas 3 june 2000

My Cause Is Not Clear

my cause is not clear:

letters of frost arrive

I can't answer.

spring is in decline

before the first bud opens-

before my heart

the level plains unwind-

beneath a sky of no colors

and messengers go by

any other path

having been warned

in a dream-mary angela douglas 28 march 1999

They Were Seeding The Clouds With Sorrow

they were seeding the clouds with sorrow

in a roseless nation

I could not wake up

from this dream

when the words on the tip of your

tongue failed like snow would

and the reckless shadow of

your hand brushing the clouds aside was

sadly, inconclusive-

mary angela douglas 28 december 2002/28 december 2005

This High Circus Life Has

this high circus life has

its irrefutable laws

but clowns are sustained by

clowns less wounded in a

painting by Roualt

how it should ever be-

alas but I am here

where clowns roll off

the edge of the sky

and I begin to cry

since all their sawdust ways I

can not defend

or bind, protected in

my book of consolations

mary angela douglas 12 august 2001/31 may 2005

Storage Unit

in between day jobs we must grow

smaller roses in an infintessimal

garden-the air scented for one breath only

and one star crouched above

must represent

the universe we are permitted-

mary angela douglas 6 january 2005

We Will Not Be Lured From These Bright Paths

we will not be lured from these bright paths

when faux rose windows begin

to gleam

warring factions will scatter their push pins

over the map of no known counties

birds from fairytale

regions will start to sing,

all other things being equal in the castle

finding their

long-imperiled music unaffacted

and the princess will no longer be

forced to spin straw into straw

and call it golden

mary angela douglas 3 may 2005

Oh, Let Me Fall Through The

oh let me fall through the

fairytale's mirror

on the other side is

a freedom not realized

before and light and

castles meant to be

lived in I am sure

the wings of the deliverers hasten-

the trial of the innocents could

stand interruption-

and, balanced over the lake of glass, the

ballerina must always be true

and not turn in the breeze-

mary angela douglas 19 august 2002

For The Moment, A Sanskrit Illumination

for the moment, a Sanskrit illumination-

and clouds slip over a polished moon

they are throwing voices on the

surface of things;

I am dying from the sand of all replies.

but this condensation of infinite

sadness

diamond by diamond, will appear

much more like love than evanescence

beyond the threshold of these light-years.

mary angela douglas 25 november 2001;25 may 2019

Diminuendo

[to Sara Teasdale]

this word flows away like music

this word flows away

into a farther heaven of

whiteness

snow like a trackless

deeper silence this

bird flies away

this leaf drifts away like

music this leaf

drifts away

under a brand, a singing

rapture, singed by no questions

half-unanswered

this wind melts away

into a greeness never

visioned, into no one's

wilderness

into no one's least revision

and no ocean's bay-

mary angela douglas 25 april 2004

These Are The Hedges Of Snow

there are the hedges of snow-

of the incontrovertible uses of

clouds

of scriptures recalled in dreams

and not found yet on earth

this is the instep of silence

a double to the white

rose of Dante an

aperture to the stars

and non-commercial space-

my feeling my words my

grace

mary angela douglas 13 july 2003

I Was Reading From The Book Of Swans

I was reading from the book of swans

from images of clear regality

from quietness-

my soul did not glide like

those stars upon the waters

but I could understand

something more mysterious

was required of us

than current broadcasts-

mary angela douglas 24 july 1999

I Went Through Your Epochs

I went through your epochs

one by one:

blazing a circle, not

a trail

I was not met at the door

by anyone

while in so many dreams

you did not appear

and I have cradled nothing

but my fear

that all my love is turning

into snow of a winter in

which whole worlds will be

lost

and one without which not

even God can stand

mary angela douglas 12 may 2001

I Feel My Soul Returning

I feel my soul returning

to a shimmering state

golden threads are in the

air:

they can be gathered

in a chapel of snow invisibly

you watch with Quixote

through the long night

enacting the fables

ridiculed on the news:

waiting to find again

under an unmisted sky:

the jeweled windmills

turning

under the jeweler's light

mary angela douglas 28 august 2005/rev. 31 july 2007

Her Dreams Shine Like Water Every Day II

her dreams shine like water

everyday

poured from the pitcher of time

within time, oh

frame by frame, can we rehearse-

in a fairytale's nomenclature

the world with no distress?

may you fade into

an emerald situation-

every green tree will keep

your own inveterate heaven

mary angela douglas 28 april 2003/rev. 31 july 2007

For Icarus, In The Final Moments

there is lightening

over the sea.

now I know that

you are going

and will not return.

but I have kept

all the blueprints from that first day

and the paintings of

your Sun-

mary angela douglas june 2007