Going Away Is Dying Said The Snows To The Hills Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

going away is dying said the snows to the hills
and the hills cried
this we called melting

not knowing anything then
as candy melts in the mouth
that we were savouring

going away is grieving said the leaves to the winds
and the winds pretended they did not hear
that the leaves were sere

or would be soon
and the moon in the clouds turned away when
somewhere the stars clanged

ringing the bells of their demise themselves

and someone was whispering
this is all that I had left
and now you are bereft except for the snows

the hills the leaves and the stars
that remain to tell you who you are
and how, if not when

you are going away like them

mary angela douglas 22 february 2016