Presentiment In Winter

winter's porcelains in the skies
have this finish:
tinted, mother of pearl, or the color of doves;

snow skies in their bridal satins.
this was painted on her mind
and layered over years.

winter's porcelains...

is it the Snow Child's ensign
from a thousand, thousand legends
that you glimpse again

when icicles chime and you wonder,
can the snowdrops be retrieved
she held so wistfully, then-

the bouquet of her final hours?
oh you will melt away
one day, verging on flowers.

or on all the silver suns
whose time has come

in your own winter, delicately.
in February's distances.
when the geode of starlight

spills open before you.
and the earth sobs.

mary angela douglas 5 october 2015