Publish It To The Air

with blue or is it the red pencil this time
do they really tell you where to breathe
in your own poem

fantastical I said but under my breath
when I understood this was true.
no editors then

but publish it to the air
that those who bore the poem
from that world into this

should edit themselves and remain free
even without recompense
and let my words die on the wind

if I must send to another
in this wilderness
to know my own child.

mary angela douglas 29 july 2019