SECOND APRIL IS NOW

wash your face in the greens and blues

of Spring in the distance and you are you

the ice melt flows and the brook reflection

knows you, the birds trilling excessively,

the second april is now that tread upon

the ghost of the first

and streams upon the strand

close your eyes and dream of the trees farther inland

only a little, the willows of mercy and no exiles

and in a while you will remember your first steps

as a child wobbly and happy

your first innocence and the surprise of music in

your mother's words I am in the roundtower of His grace

this is not memory beyond memory,only what cannot be erased

this is the created, coming to consciousness again.

the holy golden winding of fresh days.

fresh birthdays, fresh new once upons

the dove, new sprung

from the living page.

mary angela douglas 9 december 2022;rev. 6 february 2023