In A Sugared Quiet Lit By Pastel, Multicoloured Stars (Final Version) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

(after the school auditions for the Nutcracker Ballet)

here is the snow-globe where the tiny fir cones
gleam in a sugared quiet lit
by pastel, multicoloured stars o in tiny spotlit rose,

or amethyst fire, of carillon sighs through
a winter self-contained,
if miniscule.

and it will never sleet inside your heart here
if you're not in the ballet.
you will only be surprised each time
a tinny music chirps and clicks

whenever you are shaken,
and the universe is
flecked as if for a tiny party
all your own and the
self-same fairy confetti cotillion
drifts and sifts;

it sparkles, trembles, curved like a new moon
on a wire and you twirl, my glaced
sugurplum, you dream
you are the queen of cherry,

drizzled whipped cream;
tiaraed sovereign of the ballerinas
who incarnate snows,

their lavender shadows
and the pink the blue-
will bloom
in this Christmas buona sera
even if no one calls you, 'Clara'.

mary angela douglas 21 november 2013; 19 october 2023