Will Anyone Think

will anyone think because you have found it
you, a mere girl at best an afterthought of God
newly sprung after the long rains

a mass of flowers

that it is really what it is a pearl of great distinction,
better for it to remain at sea or in the tidal basins free

and still enclosed

than to be found by you 
who can only give it greater obscurity

since it is you that found it
and not a king.
who could credit such a thing.

still you have it

in your pocket yet
or on your dresser with the dresser set,
a light perfume

a mirror into which you look to banish gloom
not at all vain.
what will remain of it

softly you ask of God
even though I found it in Your name
they strive to build on it to bury it under

an altar of mud
and I the mud streaked goose girl in the rain
not even a foot note in that history

of disdain.

mary angela douglas 28 september 2019