we broke apart in the space age
my sister and I playing swing a statue
with Disney magic centrifugal force
under the light of Telstar
in our backyard
just as the poets were filing into the last rows
in the medical, legal ampitheatres
of the Ivy Leagues
outshone by those actually good in math
and the sciences, the finer points of the law
while secretly the scientists
all dreamed they were actually poets
so we drank our Tang
not spilling a drop
eating our pop tarts at the bus stops
breaking no hearts
but just making valentines
for the heck of it
and because we love love loved
the phrase: paper doilies
when kitchens were mopped
with Johnson wax
and nobody asked nobody to dance
except when forced to
at dancing school
and I feel almost like Don McLean
in the endless stream of his apocalyptic rag
in a latter day and because
my mind was made this way to always ask:
American Pie, was it latticed? what kind of berries?
and the floors so bright they virtually gleam
into Space where the astronauts are writing
sonnets on paper airplanes that float up to the top of the capsule
and become new moons
and all the astronomers are so happy about it
they throw parties or their wives do where
they eat Cordon Bleu
and Beef Wellington
and cheese fondues.
and buy their children hula hoops
in every available colour
we are that jealous.
and I dust the coffee tablo
and Grandmother's glossy magazine covers like
Life and Look and Musical Courier and
wear lip gloss, perfume
just for the heck of it
and because I just
like the names of them.all.
words are that beautiful.
mary angela douglas `13 january 2018
my sister and I playing swing a statue
with Disney magic centrifugal force
under the light of Telstar
in our backyard
just as the poets were filing into the last rows
in the medical, legal ampitheatres
of the Ivy Leagues
outshone by those actually good in math
and the sciences, the finer points of the law
while secretly the scientists
all dreamed they were actually poets
so we drank our Tang
not spilling a drop
eating our pop tarts at the bus stops
breaking no hearts
but just making valentines
for the heck of it
and because we love love loved
the phrase: paper doilies
when kitchens were mopped
with Johnson wax
and nobody asked nobody to dance
except when forced to
at dancing school
and I feel almost like Don McLean
in the endless stream of his apocalyptic rag
in a latter day and because
my mind was made this way to always ask:
American Pie, was it latticed? what kind of berries?
and the floors so bright they virtually gleam
into Space where the astronauts are writing
sonnets on paper airplanes that float up to the top of the capsule
and become new moons
and all the astronomers are so happy about it
they throw parties or their wives do where
they eat Cordon Bleu
and Beef Wellington
and cheese fondues.
and buy their children hula hoops
in every available colour
we are that jealous.
and I dust the coffee tablo
and Grandmother's glossy magazine covers like
Life and Look and Musical Courier and
wear lip gloss, perfume
just for the heck of it
and because I just
like the names of them.all.
words are that beautiful.
mary angela douglas `13 january 2018
