Facing The Dragons Down (Final Version; Stanzas Reformatted) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

through kingdoms now
as it was then
you tread a certain

inward path
while they line up again
to stare you through with wrath
on a very tiresome playground-

or hurl, with no one else around
a mere boulder or two
down the embankment
as you pass through.

don't ask me how
they know it's you with
a birthday message for

your distant children
done up in maypole ribbons bright
and the fairytale hour-glass

sands on the low-end.
but they could find you
in their sleep

on the margrave's run-down highway-
and creepity creep creep
through the heat-

roiling their chartruese scales-
interfering with the U.S. mail
waving a tinny fin-
casting a munching eye on
your last bit of raisin toast
with frosting.

or burping near an office window
just to throw you off before the crowd
a murky sound front row at your first timeTed talk.

do not fear them;
let them rave:
thrashing the marigold window shades
beneath God's diamond and
discerning eye.

you may look swiftly all around
to see if they mean someone else in town
but no one else is there to pound.
they must mean you.

don't be alarmed;
don't be concerned.
it just that it's your

turnity turn turn
To Be Facing the Dragons Down-

mary angela douglas 23 august 2011; 4 october 2023