The Sunset Of Words

from the sunrise of words they have stolen a little light
here and there so that words have taken flight,
the gleaming words

the ones you cherished in a lullaby sleep
ah they have stolen and coin by coin
my treasure! jeweled language

and was there none to cry out
no one to hear
no one to stand in guard

of all the angels o
they have stolen the lily and the myrtle
from out of the verse

of the past
the moon's reflection on the waters
the child's in a looking glass

the sighs of the least and last

and I am held in the tower
cried the Muse
the Muse of our lost hours

is there none to save?
men rave without speaking
day by day and close

the book and say
we have made the sunset of words
all by ourselves

and oh, we are proud

and will it out loud to be this way
that Beauty in tatters should go about the woods
senseless and dumb

in the mermaid hour
when the dagger must be flung out far
from her

and ah! beyond reach

flung far
that Love should rule in the End
even without speech.

mary angela douglas 2 september 2017