I Wanted To Pack The Wind In A Jar Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

I WANTED TO PACK THE WIND IN A JAR
I wanted to pack the wind in a jar
so that wherever you might go
on any given summer day
you could open the jar
and there would be the wind
laughing at you
and fresh as lilies.
and in another jar
starlight, frozen.
for the ocasionally lost
at inconvenient times.
you open the jar:
and what a surprise,
you're feeling all celestial bright
and suddenly at a party
though it's late at night,
tomorrow's school
with coloured lanterns swaying
and pin the tail on the donkey games in the carport,
stereoscopic views of the Grand Canyon
and strawberrry ice cream.
suddenly I was thunderstruck
with many possibilities.
flowers in a jar for january
tied with a plaid gift ribbon
like in the women's magazines
and wooly sheep
to be let out into the fields in March.
they would have to be tiny
with the lid screwed on tight
so as not to make a commotion
and break the glass but then at last
they would run and play
resembling clouds in a way come down
clouds in the fields as far as
your eyes could see, baby clouds,
set free near the pines
and Spring, all around you.
in a pink and blue design.

mary angela douglas 6 november 2017