To The Lark Descending Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

[to the prophetic Hans Christian Andersen,
for his fairytale: 'The Emperor's Nightingale']

[to the tune of Vaughn Williams 'The Lark Ascending' played more and more faintly...]

it's so important to cry out loud
whenever it is you're with that crowd
and suddenly they've come to displace

the real bird with the fake-
though it is jeweled;
though it knows all the variations

clockwork, on-demand and hops with one wing folded!
giftwrapped! they'll exclaim yet you have lost
the nightingale forever, it may be

while looking down at your shoes;
examining the wrong clouds. or standing in line
at the cafeteria, phrasing it another way-

just to get through your day.

gone in an instant! wept the kitchen maid;
the goose girl in the hunting blind,
tending the geese

while the skies turned to glass
and then, shattered.
this- mattered!

ah echo this, echoed this through angelic realms

so vital it is to cry out loud
and not prevaricate
when this much is at stake:

the life of an Emperor-
the future state of Poetry on earth...

(too late) .
the docked wings of the Soul

mary angela douglas 22 december 2014