Mary Angela Douglas Poems

[to Alexander Bell Sr., radiant Poet of the simple words
and to his beloved family]

I'm Alexander, he said, a simple poet using simple words
...

oh christmas window in the downtown area
where the dolls move from side to side carefully
pouring their infinite tea;
...

[to Anna Akhmatova, Boris Pasternak, Osip Mandelstam...]

(and for my Grandmother, Lucy White Young)
...

in dreams we are never sure of the place:
it could be this or another one.
geography dissolves.
...

beautiful the essay that doesn't fade away
that picks field flowers in a bright meandering way
or clouds from a cotton sky
...

everyone's waiting for their big break maybe-
their chance to be discovered.
to hit the stage, to write the page, the song
...

charm braclet in a white gold mould remembered
cast charm by charm
and will you come to harm
...

[after the fairytale where the Princess drops the golden ball down the well and is tricked by a retrieving frog.

and to the memory of Robin Williams as the Froggie in Shelley Duvall's version ('The Tale of the Frog Prince') in her lovely Showtime series (1982-1987, Faerie Tale Theatre) .This is my version in tribute to hers! Terri Garr as the pouting Princess was impeccable. (say that twenty times fast) and you'll go far in life, too.]
...

the clock will chime and you'll
remember what she said.
your dress will turn to sand;
...

square dance skirt in heavy pink cotton
embroidered in a darker pink's small
rosebuds and a scarf of the same material
...