To Anyone Writing Now In The World (A Letter Across Time) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

anyone writing now in the world
famous or not I want to say to you
please dont let them reduce your work to one required theme
you know what I mean or
to any theme at all. its your bread.
you have the right to butter it the way you want.
to put jam on it or not.
to drip the honey of time on it deep amber drop by drop.
dont let them quell you.cast a spell on you so that you are down
to one word only and chirp woodenly like a broken bird
politics politics politics
what do we need with a trillion more books on one harping theme
commanded as if by unappointed infantry.
we dont live in politics.
we live in our souls.
in kingdoms within.
in our imaginations.
escaping to other realms
when the world is harsh.
it has always been this way
until the new lawgivers came
their mouths permanently grim
and reduced us all to the same drab pattern.
approved by Them.
resist this.
write in gold. in the sky with blue streamers.
penning the secret lives of trees.

mary angela douglas 26 july 2020