Friday, June 13, 2008

I Wandered Every Fairytale Way

I wandered every fairytale way
even when every path was strewn
with thorns, not roses-

and the sun shone down on lawful ridicule
excused by market forces

facing numerous evictions

beauty in mind was never
wounded

and in the ivory moment

I looked for Your sustaining hand;
it was not in vain.

they say it is too hard to

find the tenuous way back

but it is harder not to try


mary angela douglas 3 june 2008

I'm The One With The Ruby Slippers

I'm The One With The Ruby Slippers

I'm the one with the ruby slippers
I whispered to myself
in a scene of great

distress

in a dream it all came back to me:

the captive feeling in the unfeeling
castle

and the witch

green as new grass

sprung up again

I'm the one with the ruby slippers;

I'm not the one that melts
I muttered to myself again
under the witch's witching stare:

fire cannot quench

nor water burn

the singular heart anointed

in this.

or any other nightmare


mary angela douglas 16 may 2008

I Stood At An Ivory Distance

I stood at an ivory distance
from per diem valentines

from ruby-hearted accolades

or lace-strewn fitting rooms

I don't know why

my non-message in a bottle

sank beneath the waves that day

as if torpedoed

and cairns against

a winter-inlaid sky
seemed to me more cherishing than

the violet-ridden spring


mary angela douglas 8 february 2008

When The Wistful Fairytale Imploded

when the wistful fairytale imploded
we were covered in

fleeting gold;

gold of a vanishing light -

of far stars' sic transit

gold of the shimmering

air of the legendary heart:

surprised

by sudden kingdoms-

mary angela douglas 8 february 2008

We Were Sailing Broken Ships

we were sailing broken ships
under a sky of glass
you could have been undone

by even the slightest meteor

yet, dear mariner, you weren't
and I kept your opalescence
like the secret of a star

whenever I was forced to move

over marred seas.

under a cuticle moon

of scant gold.
standing stock-still

by orphaned sails

I tried so hard to remember

former marvels
twirling in vain the locker's rusted combination

oblivious to the wild

and iris wave

poured out unmistakably

in the long dream before

embarking


mary angela douglas 8 february 2008

A Dream Country Where You Go Around

a dream country where you go around
asking too many questions of creatures who
resemble no one from your former life

could only end unfairly

in a dream-execution
but you saw through them

they're a pack of cards

even the Queen
you said, or meant to say

the words muffled into the soft

river grass

so brave in your blue frock

because you already knew
the story must end uniquely

in your world

especially when it begins like
every other

once-upon-a-time...


mary angela douglas february 2008

Why On Such A Golden Day

why on such a golden day
drowsing past
river-banked flowers

did you dream like that

a dream that was

anything but gold

whose heart would lead you

nowhere
where your every sparkling

entrance on each dissolving stage

would be so dully reviewed.

you couldn't even begin to ask directions

in a town where
even roses at their summit of
rose perfection

could be judged unfit

unless controlled-

mary angela douglas february 2008

In the Looking Glass, It Began To Snow

in the looking glass, it began to snow

the snow covered up

your eyes your
mouth; your

hands, with their own

snow-like gestures;
you wept-

but not into

the frozen-mirror pond


we struggled through:

emerging into
deeper snows,

but with the same furniture-

and this was the

beginning of sorrows

mary angela douglas february 2008

Next Time Pinch Yourself

next time, pinch yourself
don't go to sleep
when your sister tells

a boring story


that's my advice

too late
don't drink the soup,

the tea, don't eat the tarts

they left them out too long, anyway
don't go anywhere

near the Queen

don't run errands for
the rabbit whether he's

wearing gloves or not

don't wind his watch
don't tell them what

you learned in school

and if you catch them painting roses
get the next train out
even if it's the circus express

mary angela douglas february 2008

Oops! I Fell Down The Rabbit Hole

oops! I fell down the rabbit hole
in my poem
Hello Alice, lovely dress the
perfect shade of blue I
was sent to warn you
I wish I could have
warned myself

now we're plummeting

past the Rabbit's
bookshelves
stop! I want to
read the titles so
I can find them
when I wake up...

there's going to be

a tea party - you'll
be sitting at the
table in your party dress
but you won't feel invited
despite the pink cake
in the middle of the table;

you won't get a slice
no matter how nicely you pour tea;
you ask too many questions
and you won't have a moment

to yourself. even if you cry,
other people will utilize
your tears on the spot this is

that kind of dream: you
can't wake up when you want to,
dear.

but the door to the garden,

once you get through-
just stay: on the still point of
a turning world that makes no sense;
like a jewel-box ballerina when
the music ends

remaining you by barely breathing

so that at the last
you'll be
unperceived and bounce yourself out of

their false rose frieze


mary angela douglas february 2008

Living The Book Of Rose By Heart

living the book of rose by heart
I scattered my petals before you

in the wake of all that befell you

wishing like the lilac fairy to
dispel

all darkness

before and after

quietly without
overturning the

dreams at your feet


mary angela douglas 10 november 2007

This Is Not The Dew Impearled

this is not the dew impearled
this is my tear
this is my voiceless


damask plea

rooted under the darkening sky
when the wind blows through
while you are sleeping


when the wind blows through

and I can't sustain this
roseness

will you remember

my rose ghost
poem recited while

ou are gliding off

to sleep;
it was my tear and not

the dew impearled


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007

Wildly Beautiful Improbable Message

wildly beautiful improbable message:
I have hidden you under the
underside of my heart

in case of real emergencies



where no one will question

your sanity in battle
or you be ever wounded,

shot-down in mid conversation

by those with nothing better to do


long years I have cherished you

under a sky of iris
or rocked you to sleep
when the moon turned to blood.

the waves of your shining will

not be turned back at any border
nor your high ardent meteors
cross-examined

in courts of sheer aridity

and we will survive:

staring straight into
your radiance,

never going blind


mary angela douglas 10 october 2007

Not One More Emerald River

not one more emerald river
will you cross
it's time to rest.

gather these

sad poppies to your heart
blighted by sudden snowfall

no remedies remain

draw the shade

over the shade

don't dwell on green

rainbows anymore, endlessly picture-perfect

or friends that vanish

like a dream-

like a lost cause

goodbye goodbye sweet emerald metier


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/rev. 6 february 2010

I Can't Reach The Cellar Door

[to my grandmother for the times we all watched the Wizard of Oz.]

I can't reach the cellar door

the storm's coming in so fast
the trees I played under

yesterday

can't last
and the side-yard chickens fly up to
the stars, still squawking

that I forgot to feed them

there is no shade.

but it can't be in vain
you stood in the shattered doorway

calling my childhood name

through a vortex of dust and
fleur-de-lis stars too suddenly turned out-

even when I couldn't hear you anymore.


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/rev. 6 february 2010

Someone Brought A Red Rose

someone brought a red rose
into the green palace


it must have been an
artist (not a local)


trying to be free-


it must have been his
last


still life


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007

When You Tire

when you tire
of picking only green flowers
by a sea-green sea

an ad will appear

in the Green Gazette:

balloonist position:


will train, entitled

to one free ride

do not go

even if times get
hard

and you have to eat flowers

morning night and noon with green sauce #3
and you can't change the one

emerald station on your old tv


listen.

even on your birthday, cake days are over
with no balloon to

go home in


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007

Flicking The Emerald Dust

flicking the emerald dust
off the curious piano,
she sat down to play

only, of course,

green songs-

green music welled up

in her heart

but her heart was a

diamond's

diamond


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007

When You Have Gone

when you have gone
down all the yellow roads
looking for your lost

emeralds

rest on a green wave:

do not be dismayed

glide away

away

and in your sleep a

green cloud will appear (it may be)
wrapped around a

green castle bedewed with sparkles as in certain cartoons

and when you wake:

your room will be

filled with emeralds


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007

Dear Mr. Oz (The Great and Terrible)

dear mr. oz
behind the curtain
tugging the strings of

your countrymen:


we have waited so long

in this hall of wishes
for life to start-

and all the green wands

are broken-

for the token of a heart,

a mind that ticks,
a night without fear
or a single ride home:

we went through hell.

don't pass the pie-crust promises, please-

not even emerald pie


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/11 february 2010

Here Is All I Would Like to See

here is all I would like to see
in the nasty fear-inducing Crystal Ball
property of the Wicked you-know-what
on the table-top beside the nerve-racking

oversized hour glass:


Dead Witch.
Dead Flying Monkeys.

mary angela douglas 20 october 2007

Bright Green Was the Land

bright green was the land
as if painted with tempera
by children painting boldly

with large brushes

and the sun is a mistaken streak

of yellow-green that drips
on a clothesline wash now

suddenly chartreuse.

my shimmering easel, then
it's apple-green recess

all the time when you dot the "i" in peridot.

and we're let out of school early

to make rhymes on cherished newsprint

the color of key limes


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/rev. 3-11 february 2010

Green Leaves Emerge Like Little

green leaves emerge like little
green stars on all the sticky branches
it is spring in the Emerald City and

aren't you so entranced whenever lite

green perfumes waft through:
these dollhouse shuttered windows

as children we gazed through

to wallpapers and needlepoint
patterned with roses?

now fingerpainted-green dogs bark

in thumb-printed swirls that
we remember-

they frisk in the sun

that can never set
on vari-colored landscapes

we don't have words for, yet-


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/rev. 6-11 february 2010

I Am Going Up An Emerald Staircase

I am going up an emerald staircase
with an emerald mind


can't you hear
my pale (appropriate) green
footfall?

for I read under the shade
trees in summer
weaving this charming day

and I have built, extravagantly,
a way to keep on dreaming-
(even while seeming not to)

winding my watch of mist
past all disasters
going up an emerald staircase

into a realm of blue-

mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/rev. 7 february 2010

No More Emerald Music

no more emerald music
they said
and we trudged off to bed
still dreaming completely in green


and in school

it was the rule
(in study hall)

don't hide your worthless

emerald stories behind
your upstanding

algebra the teachers said, upholding the

values of formulas above even

this turquoise-green sky


what use was algebra

when all we heard
before or after

(or cared to hear)


was emerald music?


mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/rev. 6 february 2010

When I Woke Up

when I woke up
there was war in the emerald city
no one was at hand

I did not jump from the tower I
packed all I had:

defying the evening news

drifting downstream from the debris-
retrieving everything the
missing children

had to leave behind

mary angela douglas 20 october 2007/rev. 6 february 2010

I Thought That You Would Know

I thought that you would know
which way the yellow road was turning
when you stood by me


in the pink sunset.



but many emerald years have gone

and the grass has
grown over

all former kingdoms


and I am clasping only

the wind's brief hand:

crossing the sea


that once was land-


mary angela douglas 14 october 2007/rev. 11 february 2010

Waiting for Oz Was Too Hard

waiting for oz was too hard
when everything came down to
one moment

so I turned back
not knowing you had
already gone through the


gate

I retraced everything:
the storm that took me

away-

the house unhinged


the miracle of a safe landing.
and the green wish hidden

in your eyes

mary angela douglas 14 october 2007

The Startled Birds Fly

the startled birds fly
into the sun
oh icarus

and I fulfill your
last request

I am singing in the golden air
the startled birds
fly into the sea
and weeping is renewed
like a contract

but in my most

recent dream of you:

the pristine enterprise
can never fail

and your wings grow stronger-

mary angela douglas 5 october 2007

Oh Melting Page

oh melting page
beneath my hand
oh melting

stars streaming out
above me
my ink is made of

clouds

oh melting air
beneath my head
oh dream melting
into the atmosphere

of a room where...
flowers breathe
unseen

let me transfix your
goldenness and
your weeping

in this frail moment of rest

oh shore melting into
the sea of this distress:

more is the quantity
I cannot give beyond

the song melting into your gaze
your light that will melt again
from my sad visionary field

this soon

mary angela douglas 5 october 2007