Green Were The Worlds We Lived In Then (Final Version) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

green were the worlds we lived in then;
green worlds have not departed.
moss of the stars, sheered

damson petals breaking off
from shifted moonlight
in my mid-speech-

I'm sorry.
I'll take the drenching word
again I laid aside
and presume to speak till it all comes clear

that you breathe the stars
you breathe the clouds
and carry the winds of
greeness in your pockets-
not only for an april, but ever-after...

through troubles bending the
wings of your lost angels
still it is all this seeming emerald we
are meant to keep as the heart's own trust-
though it spills over
as the cataracts since it must
whenever it is that God may choose
this blossoming at your side...

mary angela douglas 9 september 2011; 5 october 2023