Except

veils should be seeded with pearls or
tears of the moon
or with opals in the gloom

so that God may find us

or embroidered with small roses
or should they appear as drifts of snow
a snow continually falling

so that the figures disappear in all the landscapes
but not the wish of your mama you should
sew a fine seam and have at your disposal

always, strawberries and cream, music and the pink iced cornbread.
a very fine wish indeed; we agreed on it.
the seam being the ordering of dreams merged into

little  booklets for tracing the starpoints, cosmic wheels
as they arose.and gleamed
through the extravagant night trees.

as they arose, the bride stood tiptoe

in the rose gardens of the world
this was how we planned it
year embroidered on year

and the loom and the golden threads
near at hand, blue taffeta
in the armoire

even when it grew chilly
past sweater weather, beyond all spells
the veils swept away

the worst
all harps being stilled.then.
except in the lacelike mind, defended.

mary angela douglas 26 june 2018