[to Hans Christian Andersen]
far from the orchid Heavens still,
mermaid like as I may be, swimming
through the vastness of possible words
I don't yet understand-
may I not be caught in the fishing lines
of so many footnotes to the poems
of my heart; bewildered by
words on land or gold spangled,
tangled in
the motes that reach me here
where it's hard, sometimes
for the Light to get through.
baffled, I try to sing
forgetting where I am or that
they have taken
my voice from me...
all this was in a dream she had First Night
in broken pearl, on deck
when the Seas grew ragged,
violet as Spring
with every wave murmuring, murmuring
don't forget - don't forget me.
mary angela douglas 4 january 2016
far from the orchid Heavens still,
mermaid like as I may be, swimming
through the vastness of possible words
I don't yet understand-
may I not be caught in the fishing lines
of so many footnotes to the poems
of my heart; bewildered by
words on land or gold spangled,
tangled in
the motes that reach me here
where it's hard, sometimes
for the Light to get through.
baffled, I try to sing
forgetting where I am or that
they have taken
my voice from me...
all this was in a dream she had First Night
in broken pearl, on deck
when the Seas grew ragged,
violet as Spring
with every wave murmuring, murmuring
don't forget - don't forget me.
mary angela douglas 4 january 2016
