They Mined My Poem For Information

they mined my poem for information.

lilting,my poem flew away.

they muted my nation.

the coasts of sorrow look the same

from age to age.

we coloured them in with pink and green

and were kept in corners or

after school; for this? I whispered

who let them rule who let them rule

I murmured into my small hands
as though they were a telephone oh

only the breeze escapes

 bringing hints

of the rose,of the
 honey-suckled gates

I open my Grandmother's piano lid
there where my starlight hides

mary angela douglas 22 october 2014