Old Christmas Revisiting

[on the Nativity of Christ the King]

dream sequence sequined you return again as
in old movies, to a harp glissando
to this drift of leaves

and this year's calendar
in red and gold comprising all others

or to old houses with the pantry stocked
and the cherry preserves falls unexpectedly
as if the angels announced their joy

not that mysteriously, entranced by
heavenly provisions here on earth;
or your pause, on entering a room

in this nativity

in a few steps descending a few stairs as
if you were eurydice
on an unseen stage still

capable of turning back
where there is Light
at the sheer beginning of  your myth

to rearrange the lines inside
your head and hope

that poetry will lead you
like the Star
to the more than decorative

silence, shine! out! from the dark
from the corners of your eyes
espied, the lilt,

the vivid Heart
of all things:
standing still

before-
in a hushed and snowy Hour,
this Miracle

flowering

all over again. Jesu.

mary angela douglas 10 november 2015

I Dreamed That Music Faltered

I dreamed that music faltered like a piano in the rain.
a cloudburst, and then, it will not be the same.
and no one's going out there in this weather.

they could at least, close the lid I said at the high window
or thought I did as the rain gushed in.
but no one came.

a staircase floated by derailed from a home.
I know I am alone but I will try I cried
on a rising wind

but I couldn't find the stairs.
where are the angels where is saving grace
what kind of place is this where I feel

like an astronaut drowning in space
and then the clouds cleared. the rain stopped.
a strangeness in the air. not a drop of mercy.

the grand piano wasn't there somehow.
so I went to the bus stop, retracing steps
thinking I was getting somewhere now.

mary angela douglas 8 november 2015

P.S. In my dream there was no music and therefore no mercy. In real life there is both mercy and music, thanks be to God.