ON THE LONGEST DAY

 

ON THE LONGEST DAY

On the longest day

Let us be brimful of benedictions

let us staunch all wounds with dark honey

and carry the wounded in soft clouds

and build for them a castle of pine boughs and fir

scented as if for Christmas, cloves and oranges.

allow no footfall to distress them

no carrion wing to invade their dreams

let the whole earth be full of consolations

and the grasses bend gently

by the rivers of time.

mary angela douglas 11 march 2024