Whatever Song I Know Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

angels with their lutes in a foreign dream
strummed in a corner apart
and I said my heart is made of madrigals, too

can I be here amongst the spangled?
is it the Renaissance again?
but all went silent as a pin

and none of them were dancing.on it.
used to the shut out I resumed
cleaning my housing unit, little rooms

that would never look clean
nor gemmy like those angels
in their opulent green

their Christmas burgundies.
so much for my time machine
the journal entry read

the diamond light had turned to lead

I scrawled in a darker ink.
then went back to the sink
to try again.

from that day. some day dropped out of a cloud
and not on the calendar with the strawberry leaves
I sang Happy Fair over the soap bubbles

and made a fresh bargain with God
I'll live in You there's no place else to go
not in any century, status quo

and sing for free
whatever song I know.


mary angela douglas 24 january 2019