TO MY MOTHER ON MY BIRTHDAY EVE

 

TO MY MOTHER ON MY BIRTHDAY EVE

The princess incognito on the edge of doom

Is visiting me at the playhouse

But the play will not resume

No role is left for a goose girl

I heard her weeping say

No role is left is left at all

For the former queen of the may

But waiting softly in my best dress

Recital dress and all

I held in my hands a basket of flowers

With green moss, ivory buds so small

In the beauty of the day

All I could think to say

You’re still you’re still,  my mama

Though you had to go away

to a sky blue room in Heaven

Where all the sparkles stay.

And I will be your daughter

And lift the mists and all

And mind my manners

And write my poems;

Draw roses on the walls.

Mary angela douglas 4 february 2024