Book Exchange (Final Version) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

when you look at the window that's streaked with rain
and the ache in your heart feels just the same
you could almost be twins with that windowpane
I think, looking back to some childhood days
often at school, when the class was hard
and the teacher too
and math was the last thing you wanted to do
the x's and y's and the fractioning parts
and Christmas was gone and the days stretched thin
and life seemed sad and you couldn't tell when
it was ever - going - to - end.
suddenly out of the gloom and rain
a cherry red book on the library cart!
you read in that book of a hillside green
a little stream and a cottage nearby
where all were merry under the sky
and the book in your heart grew invisible wings
and ever since it just sings and sings
on a branch in your heart now so many days
so sweet and so helpful on every page.

mary angela douglas 8 january 2022