You Should Read What You Want To Read Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

you should read what you want to read

even if its still little golden books

small treasuries, with one word syllables

and pictures, pristine and bright

of the gingerbread man still in flight

the pancake rolling down the hill

the Alcott apple orchards and more.

old card catalogues, wish books, almanacs

the faded directions to the castle.

Coke advertisements with a beaming Santa.

oh let me rest in appled nooks

and curl my toes in winsome brooks

and eat Divinity by the spoon

right in the middle of the afternoon

find polka dot mushrooms after rains

and seek to lessen worldly pain

by infinite magic, angelic choirs sustained

the bright moon lifted on golden wires

above the stage set in my mind

where Juliet forever refines

the braille of infinite snows.

mary angela douglas 13 june 2023