Bridge Collapsing Near The Farthest Dream Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

bridge collapsing near the farthest dream
I read on the walls of my nightmare
or on the sign illumined in gold at

the dream deer crossings...
lifting their hurt eyes to me, their delicate hooves flashing,
signaling the last time

I have tucked my words inside
as into an embroidered shoe, a bridal one

with the earth all dew and fire and earliest lights
near the shrine of the Sacred Heart.
but you are fleeing your white shadows

even in prayer said my angels where

the ceremony stands open like a wound that won't close;
the pews still ribboned and the larks enshrined
and it's time say the reckoning angels you recognize

there is a bridge collapsing in the blooms;
the orange blossoms everywhere scattered.

and this will matter
today and all tomorrows as an eternal forecast.
like the things you said to God in satin;

your tread on the first rung of sorrow.

mary angela douglas 20 january 2016