WHO HAS THE WHAT O'CLOCK IN FAIRY TALES (FINAL VERSION)

 

who has the what o'clock in fairy tales?

it's rarely said;

the silver deadline looms

often by daybreak

so you pull an all nighter

as if in school

but you live in a place

where the clock without hands

appears and disappears

as if you were in a Bergman film

or the dream that preceded it

or the black rimmed clock in school

with giant numerals and the scarlet weeping

second hand stops for hours

at 3:15 pm and freezes there

a good lone while before school

is let out at 3:20

and you haven't guessed the riddle yet

or you have and later in the evening after supper

you'll realize your first answer was correct

and you shouldnt have erased it

you follow directions closely when

retrieving rubies for the dwarves,

the crones, the somethings in disguise.

and you grow wise. or remain the simpleton

the goose girl in search of her geese.

the children chime.

they want to hear the story

one more time

or you are lost in the woods

with no guardian angels wingprints On the snowclad air

though you've searched everywhere

where the tick tock of the soul

is just bewildering;

or not in sync with the time machine

you land in the countryside brimful of strawberries

but stuck inside

sorting the peas from the ashes

for the whole tribe

or refurbishing peach sashes

for the stepsisters

and spinning the straw to tearstained gold

when it all comes back to you in stunning detail

giotto's frescoes washed in vermillion and blue

after you're so footsore you can hardly stand

for any portico's view you just remember

you were in that land, and spoke all afternoon

but now you're in a contrary place

and can't figure out the human race

determine who's friend or foe

still God knows.

He hasn't forsaken you.

he let's you find

the magic stewpot

so that you won't starve

and leads you through

the picture puzzle 

with no sky

without a single reason why

through grace

through blinding grace.

mary angela douglas 29 june 2015;27 december 2023