ah how long have I longed for my rest
strummed the soul with little breath for song
having been tested and retested all summer long
on the names of days,if I can subtract in my head
counting backwards repeating what you said
in bad grammar 15 minutes ago
if I can identify the colour red the petaled snows
in myriad shades if you are referring to the Rose
I said though I know that you are not
you have the forms to fill out
on the competency of the soul
can the soul still live on its own
you want to measure and censure and censure again
and have caught me on a whim
because my neighbor called me in
and here I am
in your stable of lets pretend protocols
for codifying everything by its behavior
when it is ripped from home
by no will of its own
and marking it stay or go with a tiny question mark
noting its quickness in snapping to
when you enter the room in white coats
if only you could see how bright the soul is
how many lumens would out illumine you
but you're not into mysticism
in fact that's another box you mark
in red since the subject came up
and you wrote more rapidly something
so I endure, being the soul,
what else is a soul for
getting bored with the patterns on the floor
you with your pinprick eyes that register nothing
who think that fate is a job
you have no idea
how long I can outwait you.
mary angela douglas 6 february 2018
strummed the soul with little breath for song
having been tested and retested all summer long
on the names of days,if I can subtract in my head
counting backwards repeating what you said
in bad grammar 15 minutes ago
if I can identify the colour red the petaled snows
in myriad shades if you are referring to the Rose
I said though I know that you are not
you have the forms to fill out
on the competency of the soul
can the soul still live on its own
you want to measure and censure and censure again
and have caught me on a whim
because my neighbor called me in
and here I am
in your stable of lets pretend protocols
for codifying everything by its behavior
when it is ripped from home
by no will of its own
and marking it stay or go with a tiny question mark
noting its quickness in snapping to
when you enter the room in white coats
if only you could see how bright the soul is
how many lumens would out illumine you
but you're not into mysticism
in fact that's another box you mark
in red since the subject came up
and you wrote more rapidly something
so I endure, being the soul,
what else is a soul for
getting bored with the patterns on the floor
you with your pinprick eyes that register nothing
who think that fate is a job
you have no idea
how long I can outwait you.
mary angela douglas 6 february 2018
