Where There Are No Lies

are we just ruled by thieves then

thieves of a finer light

that we must scrounge for the honeycomb

the amethyst bees in flight

are we just ruled.

it's difficult to find out

after many a marigold day

the telegram they sent you

has somehow been mislaid

embroideries that you finished

that brought the pale green rains

must now be done all over

under a watchful disdain.

I will leave the party

I will wander far

free from palace gossip

in beauty's foreign car

in a rose lined carriage

in my satin shoes

in my dress of pale bright silk

my gloves of latin hues.

far from all the scoundrels

and the evening news.

pitch the pennies forward

let them be of gold

I'll turn back like Whittington

my blue lined dreams unfold.

basted to a pattern

never bought or sold

in the navy evening

with a pearl whorled sound

speak with all the angels

when God is still around.

yonder is the lattice

and the garden close

there the attic of the stars

and infinite repose.

I will find it shortly

in the bridesmaid night

there I will remember

all the former flights

all the hopes of music

and the hydrangean skies

truth still like a chiming bell

where there are no lies.

mary angela douglas 20 april 2020;rev. 14 may 2020