Spelling Your Name In Stones Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

spelling your name in stones
they turn aside to conjure over
what's next on some pretext

and you think, blinking back small tears
maybe the stars are stone

and when they fall we all we all
will be the brides of silence
abiding under the Shadow

or in the school yard
praying hard
by the evening swings awaiting the

punishment of mimicry
in a dress of cardinal red
so all can see at recess

and tell later, tell and tell
what was said

but the heart has wings
and the green trees have
the winds

and they are rustling then
though they are planted firm
as if they had angels in their boughs

instead of only birds
and though it may turn out

that you cannot avert your face from it
when the hailstorms hail
somewhere there is a grace in it

though you feel terribly alone each time
beyond the chimes of angels
when they spell your name in stones

mary angela douglas 11 january 2016