Only More Beautiful Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

never have I seen the stars' embroidery

on the other side

of the sky

where it is perhaps knotted and tangled

secured for our delight

God's knots must be firm to withstand

our worst nights, the worst night of the world

and I imagine silvery blue it shines

still through dazed forests beyond Time, the starlight

still less of music do I comprehend

were the ink blots on the scores

mistook for notes

or Beethoven's tears

smudging the manuscripts in after years

so that we play like a music box struck by lightening

what for him regardless of deafness

was not frightening

only more beautiful in the end

with the mistakes left in.

mary angela douglas 11 february 2023