Song To Be Sung In A Time Of Affliction

it's the halo around the moon that makes you wince
the thought of someone in the green mountains, just now
singing against you;

the least ivory thing.
you're too sensitive they say , they always said so.
each time hammering anew

the crystal in the playhouse
so that you never knew
where the next blow could come from.

find peace in the little things
the ones they haven't yet converted.
in the secret things

that keep their essence still
hidden under a green leaf
under a bright stone

in a coral reef so far below
what nets can reach, what nets can reach
I thought of these things and more

in the cold and calliope rain

blue moths at the doors of consciousness
the treasures hidden under the floor
the storm troopers will not see

oh God please free what they seized anyway
without appeal

oh Lord keep all offending ones from me
that those who dream
of the least ivory thing

and are imbued 
with the halo around the moon
with song in the green mountains

as it was meant to be
before the hunters arrived.
may thrive dear Lord

and know and know
in the secret calliope rain
that You

and we-
are still the same.

mary angela douglas 26 june 2018