the characters seem familiar
set in an ancient light
their manners are formal
hidden, their delight
the memory is stirred
like silt when the river floods
it is the river it was the river
of all the childhood loves you packed away
on many and many a moving day
the characters shift; the scenery foams
the kaleidoscope alters on its own
when you no longer
can write a letter home
home, cast in an ancient light
has formal manners now
and has become the high sign of Art
a garden you water of the departed
archetypes of the heart
the characters young or old
once vivid in their presence
who have let go of earth for quite some time now
with ever and anon that semiprecious gleam
to take up a wavering residence
in your dream
mary angela douglas 17 january 2021
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