This Is The Unit On Words Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

this is the unit on words,

on words that explode like stars in the mind

like words, like stars at the end of time



this is the lesson on saying goodbye

but not to the images of light.

this is the unit on flight



broken down to trajectories;

broken down past the dictionary meanings



or rising above, the words like glass

like diamond glass admired by the child

sunlit at the window



where the glass bottles shine in their

various their myriad colours

or tree fall at Christmas and glistening



this is the unit on listening

on not being listened to

on the sunburst words



by midnight tried and sentenced and suddenly

this is the unit on the pure

who hedge words inside



as if they were gold and the ark itself

who understand the Word unsold

nor bartered in the business day



breaking all covenants.



this is the Word that holds sway

while pundits shatter it.

this is the unit on the words that mattered



scattershot and jeweled

that fall by the wayside dreamer

on his or her way to school



who will endure

past all units finally

past all misconstruing translated



past the rose hedges decimated

the fine castles obliterated

into



the pearl, indomitable alphabet

of God.



mary angela douglas 1 october 2019