let us return to the country of clouds I
said to myself when you were gone
as you said, everything is changing
in the clouds. it's always changing
(but not my heart)
in the country of clouds there are kingdoms, cities,
of changeable hues and turrets of cream and towers
of all the angels God ever made, of silken
whiteness guilded with sun-driven colors
in my dream I returned to the country of clouds
finding everything unchanged.
mary angela douglas 8 november 1997
