Saturday, May 14, 2016

I Sent Messages

"This is my letter to the world..."
Emily Dickinson

I sent messages to the sun;
they melted.
to the seas,

where they dissolved.
to the clouds:
and they became rain.

I sent messages
as if they were rainbows,
mist, relief from pain

or roselike, in the gardens
of the earth.
or far from the flags 

being furled.
I sent messages impearled
and radiant with dew

and they were flowers, birds, bells
pealing and pealing
and I carried them

over long deserts
as if they were stars
or kept them in jars

as if they were strawberry preserves;
or on my back,
even when I lacked

everything but them in the world.
and I wonder, where they have gone,
into what whirlwind

that no answer returns

mary angela douglas 14 may 2016