To You Wherever You Are Walking

to you whenever you are walking

underneath the starry or

the starless skies

where fountaining trees cast

flowers before you

where your kindness may be suddenly

not mirrored

to you

whenever you are

waking or sleeping

whether you dream of

the end or the beginning

whether you are clothed in

light or sudden confusion

whenever you are at

the entrance or the exit

may you stand always

in the circumference

of so many angels-

mary angela douglas 30 august 2007

My Words Burst Into Bloom

my words burst into bloom

singeing no one

I am a cloud on fire

sheer winds transposed

into your key

the moon unclouded

the moon unclouded

a universe outside

an open window

extant-

the guardian of nothing broken.

mary angela douglas 28 august, 2007

My Star, My Shield I Will Keep

my star my shield I will keep

your shining

in uncreated sky

enduring - before and after

at a distance far

from all torment

I will sing entirely silver

around you

gathering the shattered nebulae

of your heart rending

my heart, my heart rending yours

like far-flung flowers of

exponential light

intended and intended by God

mary angela douglas 22 august 2007

Be My Heart, Be My Shield

["Iniquitous courts have banished the moonlight"-

Natalya Gorbanevskaya]

be my heart

be my shield

in the overcast moment

whenever I am lost

in this general lack of splendor-

whenever the mists come down

ah we cannot save the stars beneath our feet

they have cast down

they have cast_ down _

when dubious courts condemn

the singing word

be my heart

be my shield

whenever the lack of feeling

is regarded as a

mark of greatness

when the love of gold

but not the golden

predominates

oh my dove

mary angela douglas 17 august 2007

Depth Charges At Every Level

depth charges at every level

stifling the endless cri de coeur

they have lost patience with

you, cry of my heart

in any language

I will defend

your light

your light

your light

mary angela douglas 9 august 2007

Stringing My Illiterate Lyre

STRINGING MY ILLITERATE LYRE

stringing my

illiterate lyre

I shriek bird cries

within the morning-

fragile flutter

at my ribcage

flights of an austere passion-

breaking for the Sun

when you go

past the Madonna

marble shatters:

complicating moonlight

in your mind

oh bruise the

denying rituals;

cry bright ascent

in darkness:

Christ broke his body

on the sun

where Beauty breaks the prisons of our sleep

mary angela douglas 

Fontbonne College

St. Louis Missouri

September 12, 1970

Suffusing My Heart in Sunrise

suffusing my heart in sunrise

colors in rosepetaled

singing, in ardor of

arbors unabated birdsong 

like small stereoscopic

waterfalls of

feeling from a distance,

intuitions incarnadine:

impanel, petal on petal the

rose of my soul

mary angela douglas 9 may 1999

Jeanne D'Arc

taking up your banner of lilies

I will remember, flame:

not that of the end

or the failed luminescence of

kings in hiding-

but light of earliest

annunciations

to your field-flower heart

not even archangels could

tread down-

in this century or in any

other

mary angela douglas 15 may 1999

The Fairytale Stories Will Emerge

the fairytale stories will emerge

released from cameo existence

from their backdrops of painted

moons-

with stars and islands unforgotten

inscribed with kaleidoscopic

joy

with silver hung high in tangled

branches branching over

the realistic legend of our freedom

mary angela douglas 29 may 1999

Do Not Speak In The

do not speak in the

color of moonlight

do not signify

anything

the wind will touch your

eyes and be silent

the rain will fall at

your feet-

only an ellipse

of light will be granted

but it will be

infinite

mary angela douglas 11 june 1999

Neither Shouted Nor Spoken

neither shouted nor spoken

you start to form everything

from snow from clouds

from dissolving seas from

one leaf disengaged from

a tree neither scarlet nor

golden

mary angela douglas 3 february 1999

This Is Not A Valentine

this is not a valentine

but it is my one-of-a-kind

rosebud phrase

I hold out into space

oh meteor-ridden sky I

believe in you and your

suns that should never

set

mary angela douglas 29 january 1999

Snow After Snow Will

snow after snow will

fall-

still you will keep

in your mind a fragility

that won't be expended.

starpoint will interlace

starpoint-

angels will all stand still

crystals will endlessly augment

crystals of a later

life

mary angela douglas 29 january 1999

Blossoming Sea And

blossoming sea and

scent of my sorrow.

manifold turquoise

of the storm. I

seek the waters

of your heart and

am torn by emeralds

mary angela douglas 15 may 1972

I Trace The Pattern On The

I trace the pattern on the

window of something

unexpected.

will you leave in my heart

this imprint of ice, will

you leave

the window frame catches my

sleeve, my breath

at the window makes

clouds upon clouds:

you have clouded my

heart

something is disappearing

that never existed,

rimmed with

flowers of ice

(my poem)

mary angela douglas 18 february 1998

In a Hurry You Explained

in a hurry you explained

the rainbow on the wall

we made phone calls to

Canada

You looked at the map at

night, night beatified

your face

that wasn't there-

with just pocket change I

guess like an exiled king

you left

you left

some books on electronics

I tried to figure

out: the rooms for

rent across the street

turned out to be

condemned. I wished you

had not left like the

rainbow on the wall

mary angela douglas 1 january 1998

All Your Fallen-Down Castles

all your fallen-down castles-

all your Spanish moments

caught from the current of speech

like one castanet on fire-

why does the moon like

a rose appear

folding itself like a fan?

but

never fully silver

beyond your trees

mary angela douglas 22 november 1998

Held In The Heart Like Splendor

held in the heart like splendor-

like splendor of words unspoken

like radiance known but

not known

like a rose that unfolds and

is still, unfolding

never losing the essence-

like the heart unreleased

from pure longing to love

beauty like this cannot be discounted

mary angela douglas 9 june 1999

They Know The Steps

they know the steps

but feeling from the world is fled

I sometimes think

not as in former days

walking with You by green waters-

the stage is filled to the brim-

but the gestures fall away

and I can't bear, can you?-

this accumulation of unscripted light

but grieve

over these too-clouded scenes-

mary angela douglas 7 may 2004

I Saw The Lyre Of Heaven Broken

I saw the lyre of heaven broken-

and children's voices

afterschool

played only jewel-box music

in the afternoon

while angels sped on waves

that would not reach us

and empty branches could not

hold the backyard's sky

once so filled with light

mary angela douglas 11 january 2005/19 september 2005

Sorrow Is Sifting Down

sorrow is sifting down

over the pine-needled ground

over the palaces in the distance

sadness is setting in

at odds with a rose-ridged

sky

while under the ice, newly forming-

the waters of this

fairytale recede-

mary angela douglas 23 january 2005

There Are No Bankable Angels

there are no bankable angels

sent on routine missions by

a routine god

and even if every frame is

filled with moonlight

light itself is always

elsewhere-

oh couriers of fire

withstand

every single piece

of audition advice

mary angela douglas 19 august 2003

Format

these edges of weeping snow surround

the stanzas they mark out

inevitably

I wish you could hear

the weeping stillness gather

its syllable children row

after row

into this so equidistant

typestricken universe you

have broken my immeasurable heart-

mary angela douglas 12 july 2003

Running Down The Crystal Staircase

running down the crystal staircase

with no crystal shoes

remembering the prince with a backward

glance

everything was not translated

she cried at a tree overlooking her mother's grave

and her tears caused everything

then her heart that

crystal most isolate

began to break

when the translators failed everyone

and shattered the unsurpassed-

mary angela douglas october 1997/30 may 2005

Monument, 2

broken candle in my heart

unthreaded needle of moonlight

lighthouse to which

no ships will ever come

gather in your clouded-over

stars:

I will sleep beneath

your lack of branches.

mary angela douglas 15 may 1999

For A Little While, The Light On Lorca's Face

for a little while, the light on Lorca's face

lay in shadow-

the angels carried their

carnations softly;

the windmill of the universe was repealed.

Quixote, having no tears left:

bowed down under

a moon of shaded green

mary angela douglas 29 january 1999

The Peau De Soie Dress in The Corner

the peau de soie dress in the corner

orange blossoms scattered everywhere.

in bare feet I sweep the floor

the night birds are all singing

their anointing songs

my hair glistens like the stars

it falls down like sorrow

before You, somewhere.

mary angela douglas 2 may 1999

A Pink Chalk Moon Rising Behind A Blue House

a pink chalk moon rising behind a blue

house, like a candy-colored picture

from a children's storybook:

through the storybook glass wall the yellow

leaves rained down and down

the blue house sinking under the

chalk pink moon trembled

snow fell exactly like sugar

crystals and disappeared as

if it never formed in flakes in

gestures too accelerated

on the blue porch in the

dazzling day's

goodbye-

mary angela douglas 1994

The Book I Was Reading

the book I was reading

turned to fire but my

hands were

cool

beyond all silver

left on earth

I turned another page-

the stars came out-

mary angela douglas 1 july 1999

All Night Long

all night long

I was writing in

your code

the stars came out

in my poem

the clouds flew over

and the birds sang

as if there had

never been sorrow

mary angela douglas 29 january 1999

Leaving The Incandescent World

leaving the incandescent world

behind, I flew into

new distresses

still, the green leaves were

kind, the small flowers

valiant

in that atmosphere the

memory of air

sustained us-

mary angela douglas 12 june 1999

All Images Of Beauty Are Effaced

all images of beauty are effaced

by the conquerors when they come-

all images are subdued

by tribunals who organize

to excise from the children's texts:

"Beauty is truth, truth, beauty."*

and all illustrations of ineffable

mystery.

the red rose bordered hem of Yeats

and myriad other singers of the real-

the true, my shining God-

are banished

(by whom and for what purpose?)

from the coffee houses of the free-

mary angela douglas 8 november 1997

*John Keats, "Ode on a Greecian Urn"

I Was Skating On Silence

[to Ekaterina Gordayaeva]

I was skating on silence

I was not deterred-

I was breathing in the

winds that never ended.

they went straight through

my soul-

like a love uncomprehended

I was gliding through silence

like glades of ice, my

heart broke open more

than any rosemary angela douglas 25 december 1997

Manassas, I Remember

Manassas, I remember your scorched earth-

a handful of yellow leaves,

trembling-

your letters tied with no ribbon.

but I won't be going

through all those

doorways hidden in your mists;

I can't be buried under your snow,

your sad angels.

I won't be walking up your

honeysuckled road

and crying

mary angela douglas 30 may 1998

I Lost That Summer Walking On

I lost that summer walking on

golden sidewalks,

returning to no wisteria-laden porch-

the golden road slit

through the universe.

like the girl with

red shoes I

just kept going down it

under no sky at all

while the sea filled up with clouds-

mary angela douglas 30 may 1998

It's Just Breadcrumbs Under Moonlight

it's just breadcrumbs under moonlight-

but fear is swallowed up

by the bravery of children on their own

now it's white stones

no birds would want

and the moon is less bright-

but I hear their frail footfall

how I recognize the sound-

like the blind

knowing my place of light in the dark woods

mary angela douglas 25 october 2005

You Couldn't Return My Phone Call

you couldn't return my phone call

but I thought you might come

along some route I

had yet to imagine. (in case of

spiritual fires or real emergencies)-

stand on the doorstep and

say something familiar,

as if it were last week and

not last century

launching the porch swing

with one fingertip

into the

summer sky-

speak into the wind as into

a receiver!

as it happens, sometimes,

in other people's poetry-

how many days or nights

unaccounted for, like counting

stars, not possible,

thinking you would come:

still looking for some

dream caravan by some

mirrored pond's reflection:

the dancer balanced by the castle

and the soldier never wavered-

mary angela douglas 4 february 1998/10 may 2005/30 august 2005

Pandora Opened A Box Of Light

Pandora opened a box of light.

this time she wasn't dismissed

from the universe

all her colors rose

they didn't cause any trouble

only angels of mercy stood at

the round earth's unimagined

corners

and she kept her distress

to herself

mary angela douglas 30 january 1999

Like Exupery's Rose

like Exupery's rose I

thought myself

well guarded-

but for inward

shattering

I was not prepared:

to be the suffusion of

so much-

bright with the crosswinds

of stored-up

feeling-

a rose of no rising age

mary angela douglas 3 march 2001

Against Your Invisible Shoulder (Hymn)

against Your invisible shoulder

I often rest my head

meteors weep from great distances

I only sigh

I have garnered everything

from your intuited presence

what alone is brighter

than your shadow

mary angela douglas 5 july 1999

After The Messengers Leave

after the messengers leave-

you sit in a room with

curtains of light

and no furnishings

wishing there was

another way out-

no more angels at the

doorway-

just an indrawn breath-

a disbelief in

celestial repetitions .

and blank directives from

a book of snow-

mary angela douglas 11 march 2003

Sadness Is A Kingdom With Starless Walls

sadness is a kingdom with starless walls

where the curtains must remain drawn and

where no valentines are ever sent

where there are many investitures of snow

and mirrors through which the fairytale cannot

be accessed

and where, if the golden ball drops down

the well, no one

retrieves it

where golden wands are broken and

no Christmas ornaments are

stored in the attic

and where

in a sea of crystal the mermaid disappears

on a wave that cannot reach the prince-

mary angela douglas february 2005