Golden Slippers Has The Child (Final Version, Reformatted Stanzas) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

golden slippers has the child
and a green dress that rustles
when you turn
a trillion petticoats of foam

when you turn and a cerise sash
that you never tie
golden slippers, said her mother
spending a lifetime just to say

to her it won't always be this way
on this side of the willowed stream
oh may you walk on pearl whenever

the breeze stirs the roses you
may feel disconsolate
weep into an embroidered handkerchief
for every petal falling
for every petal falling down
she said to the child

to the child in a green gown
walking lightly farther on
on tiptoe
toward the eternities

mary angela douglas 29 september 2013