A Plan For Making It Through All On Your Own

maybe they want the beautiful to disappear
so that they may rule and reign, the trolls,
present under every bridge and you

must pay their fee.
or stay at home.
how often then would we long

for the cloak of invisibility

at any birthday, under the Christmas tree
welcomed
or on the list of the required

school supplies.along with the protractor
the pencil case that slides open.
and the cray pas.

but aboveground we were too visible a target.
how do roses grow I thought in this cold climate
why do not all castles sink at every nod and wink

at the dubious eyebrow raised in the
nightmare madrigal. near graduation
You are on the brink they say

of the life before you.
but you know
they're out there under the

bridge construction going on
all the time out on highway 101
just waiting for you, the trolls

near the office park where you will work

for some one's professional smirk to
grow smirkier while you toil and
where you must learn again and again

not to depend on accolades.or good reviews
just be glad that you are you that God is nigh
still making it through

and safe across the bridge again by nightfall
behind your rose clabbered walls
small but free

reading about invisible kingdoms

lost continents where nothing like this
is required of you.beyond merely blooming.

mary angela douglas 20 march 2018