From All We Cherished Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

the books we loved were sweeter tongued

I dont know where all beauty's gone

from all the parables of song

and song itself has rancour become.

dystopian, and so put upon

to speak one phrase of the honey dew

to live in honeysuckled ways

is still a possible thing to do.

sophistication's clueless grime

has soiled the pearl faced clock of rhyme

and spoiled the strawberries in the lane

and clogged the heart with such disdain

I dont know where the beauty's gone

from all we cherished, made, of Song.

mary angela douglas 5 july 2023