To You, In The Clearing

so we are tested in dreams in waking dreams

in the way the heroes the heroines were tested

in  the old fairy tales the long form versions

when someone wise comes to us in dreams

in the hidden corners of the forests and whispers to us

sadly not knowing if we will understand or pay any heed

at all to the dream warning: trust not  in appearances

trust to something not yet revealed

and then the music fades;the last peal chimes;

the scent of which rose becomes past memory.

yet it was that particular rose and not the other 

you were instructed to pluck

as if you would pluck upon strings the one elusive phrase

that would open forever the Pearl of the skies.

or how the fir trees looked in starlight and snows

to you: in the clearing.

mary angela douglas 15 august 2020