Round Trip With Emeralds

in your summer versions of the yellow brick road

you don't anticipate the snow among the poppy fields

that kind of deliverance

that it may be necessary

to work the will as a not so oiled machine

in service of the heart that's barely learned to tick

oh let us be wicks together in the emerald world

lit by the grand imagination of a storm induced dream

and gleam ourselves in the finale as though we were citadels

of the light putting the witches of despondency to flight

in favor of the beautiful, the beckoning that we have slowly, circuitously learned

is the endless return to ourselves

we must be shown; braced for the unexpected departures

in trepidation and in grace,

through this strange round trip toward Home

that nothing was ever wasted.and that we were not alone.

mary angela douglas 21 august 2021