How I Lived For An Alphabet Of Rose

how I lived for an alphabet of rose

the gift of learning more beyond an azure door

of snow skies very close to Christmas.

the stenciled ivory moon

the hope of very soon

to close my eyes and be

another place indeed

verging on the stars.

the summer unfolding of time

gardenia scented rhymes

the lilies on the altar laid

the infinite parade of story land.

the birthday cake at hand

one true wish kept secretly

the playhouse to be found

painted lime and pink

the power to think free and

fleeting as clouds

all on my own

yet still at home

dreaming and dreaming and dreaming.

mary angela doruglas 20 march 2021

Homage To The Brothers Limoges

[on learning to read...]

on fine papers perhaps,tiny rosebuds of gold foil

in the borderlands beyond the words-

(we call them margins rapped the teachers,

impatiently illuminating.)

and you, turning the pages, aren't you?

dressed in lavender blue and quite alone.

is there a light from Heaven?

there is.

and a rose spotlight when you rise from your chair to recite

oh this is light this is light I am reading

and not the alphabets, at all

mary angela douglas 6 february 2015

Fairytale Capitals Guard The Chapters

fairytale capitals guard the chapters

and from them fall pink blossoms scattered

applewhite in natural light or some other

lamps are lit in far off rooms

where the evening comes in through the windows

in powder blue and it's almost taffeta

the rustling of pages in firelit corners everywhere.

swans down floats down from the far off spaces.

intermittent starlight, firefly passages twine about

lost summers. do the children wear lemon well?

their mothers discuss before ornate mirrors we never saw.

I like to think on later battlefields or waiting at home

for the ax to fall, for the last letters ever on earth

tied in apple green ribbons

those children grown were comforted

by these scenes

mary angela douglas 14 september 2014