I'm Not The Folktune Said The Princess Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

I'm not the folk tune said the princess
her head in her jeweled hands.
not even the broidered kerchief

with its thread of bluer skies than this.
I'm not the corn silk raveling
the flame petticoat cherished

by the dancer
washed out every night; the jacket
of gypsy green brocade

the flashpoint on the stage;
the open locket
flung away.

because I am not meant to be these.
but I am the mist where you think it is the sea;
the one white rose in the greenery

that doesn't blink out on the Christmas Tree
in a forest far from here.
the one at the ball with the least modern slippers,

in the tearose gown of the screened in afternoons
and spinning amethyst riddles
not to be answered; not to be sing song sung;

not to wear the hat of simple cherries
but the veil of moonrise.
the cost of moonrise.

and to prefer the abandoned hour
the mist when you think it is the sea
the sea arising when you think

it's only mist.
and this is only this and never again she said
from the tower of the last day

mary angela douglas 6 july 2014