Here We Have Thieves of Metronomes, Images

here we have thieves of metronomes,images:
the petty criminals of music
thieving other poet's lines

in sheer daylight.
the tick and the tock of it
down in the valley-o.

may cryptic winds blow
the myrtle off their brows
and the orange blossoms flow

another way,
warned of dreams.
catch the peddlars as they come

all penny bright, on the run;
new sheriffs of Nottingham

here they come
and robin won't defend

peddling the pilfered wares of Beauty
as their own;
ask God who knows the details.

and how the hand painted clocks
we laboured on with care
rebel on the other side

where springs are sprung
and Time counts for nothing;

the filagree of tulips,

devil's flowers.
under their spell-
released,

glow golden in Paradise
in the pink and the green of it
where these aren't allowed in

to even crease the paper
true hearts wrote upon.

mary angela douglas 1 may 2016