A Sparkling Ensued Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

A Sparkling Ensued

Rating: 4.7


to my sister, Sharon,
and all her glistening music

go deeper into the woods soothed my pages,
butterfly fluttering from the rose of peeling shelves.
and in no breeze at all,
a sparkling ensued.

a sparkling ensued and all the golden paths were opened;
though whether their gold was sunlit or was You, dear God,
could I even imagine.

it was You. and a sparkling ensued. and I went farther back
as though instructed, you know, to that part of the fairy tale
where all is about to go well if you will only listen.

you will only listen
and a glistening ensued.
and the woods were so much greener than we remembered:
in full summer, when we peeked through our fingers to see

falling snows and you felt like lace.
you felt like lace;
never losing your place in the story

once you'd begun, reminded someone dressed in lilac,
in a peaked hat, shimmering,
as I longed to be-

all alone on a nursery stage proclaiming: I am the princess
who could not smile until my baby sister piped like
a silver bird crying, angela, don't cry!

anymore. anymore.
we'll go like the children hand in hand
through deeper woods than these
guarded by angels

where the roses foam in the moonlight

to the play house we know is there,
pink coated in candy sunlight
with a green awning.

then, the breeze is awake-
like it's Christmas day.
and we're the flower girls at the weddings
where Grandmother played Mendelsohnn
for all those brides.

or in pale Easter dresses
on the Other Side
in new bonnets with the sprigged cherries.

mary angela douglas 12 july 2014

Note on the poem: My sister is a pianist. I remember her playing Chopin for hours barely out of grade school, and the shimmering cascade of sound. When we were younger in nursery school I gave a convincing performance of the fairytale 'The Princess Who Never Smiled' and cried (like one of our dolls) , real tears. Alarmed, my little sister stood up from the crowd and comforted me.

My Grandmother was a piano teacher and an organist who played for the weddings of all her older pupils and others at our church. My sister and I lamented we were only the 'rice girls' when it was the custom, to throw rice at the weddings.
We longed to be flower girls in long dresses, scattering the rose petals wildly.

We threw the rice very hard, however, in huge handfuls, so that the brides complained and then we were just free to enjoy the candied mints and nuts at the receptions.
And the lime sherbet punch in the cut glass bowl. I wish I had some now.

In my dream of Heaven in this poem I have changed us into the flower girls. But the brides should have let us throw flowers instead of rice and then they wouldn't have had anything to worry about.

(We threw the rice hard because we thought it would bring them more luck. I have no idea what put that into our heads.)

'pages' in the first line in the meaning of pages of a book and also in the meaning of 'pages' from the King's court, messengers (in this case, of course, since we are speaking in fairytalese, they are winged messengers)

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Sylvia Frances Chan 12 October 2018

First of all Congratulations to be chosen as the Member Poem Of The Day by Poem Hunter and his Team, WOW! A very cozy content about the wedding and the occurrences. Imagining Grandmother playing Mendelsohn at the weddings....A sweetest memory together with your beloved sister, how loveliest moments you memorize. I have enjoyed very much this enchanting poem, Mary Angela, G.B.U. in Abundance. Amen.

3 0 Reply
Adrian Flett 12 October 2018

A poem should be its own explanation.

2 1 Reply
Denis Mair 12 October 2018

Lovely anecdote about your sister jumping up to comfort you at the performance. These remembered moments are reflections of eternity, retrieved from a swift-passing current and treasured...yet never frozen, because they form a shimmering constellation. I see traces of interweaving everywhere...going FARTHER BACK in the woods, and in the fairy tale, and in the music, where GOLDEN PATHS WERE OPENED. When you go farther back on the paths, you begin to think God was in that quality of light.

1 1 Reply
Denis Mair 12 October 2018

And more threads are enwoven: The roses FOAM in the woods at night, and their petals PEEL like PAGES from your shelves. Your sister kept the thread of stories (or music) like LACE, which evokes church dresses, and your vision of the OTHER SIDE features both of you in lacey dresses...so far back you've arrived in a future Heaven..

1 1 Reply
Savita Tyagi 12 October 2018

Such a beautiful poem spun together out of childhood memories. Heartiest congratulations Mary for a well deserved place.

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Dr Dillip K Swain 04 September 2021

A wonderful poem with fabulous imagery! Loved it

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Kevin Patrick 13 October 2019

Absolutely exquisite work Mary, the poem is a delicately crafted composition, the imagery alone was succulent. Thank you for the accompanying note its wonderful to learn something of a persons life. Fantastic selection for POTD!

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Dr Antony Theodore 12 October 2019

go deeper into the woods soothed my pages, butterfly fluttering from the rose of peeling shelves. and in no breeze at all, a sparkling ensued... a very powerful poem indeed. congrats for becoming POD. tony God bless u

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Ratnakar Mandlik 12 October 2019

" A sparkling ensued and all the golden path were opened" Intensity of emotions flowing through the poem is just supeerb. Congrats on poem of the day.

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Adeeb Alfateh 12 October 2019

once you'd begun, reminded someone dressed in lilac, in a peaked hat, shimmering, as I longed to be- all alone on a nursery stage proclaiming: I am the princess great great expressive great 10++++++++

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Mary Angela Douglas

Mary Angela Douglas

Little Rock, Arkansas United States of America
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