Past Our Waking Dreams Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

They have forgotten the things we knew
Or else never known them at all
So that we feel no longer current in our time
And incapable of floating on the current
As if we stood outside of events
Like shadow courtiers of some sun king
Long ago deposed
As though all heroes were gone
By which we marked our place in the book of time
Or never been born in the first place,
Exiled or
Erased from the page by a more trending hand.
Some are.
Except in memory they cannot stand. Unless in the books
That once were fresh news not the parchment of fairy tales.
The dew on the rose of our present existence when
We were young too. We feel more absent not called
To the roll, not even on the roll sometimes
We collect old bottles and cant cash them in
Send in last centuries coupons to be redeemed.
To be redeemed is our last task now.
We collected what we could of stardust
Now we look at the constellations
And wonder if they feel aged.
If Spring with her fresh green
Will still recognize us.
As we live on
Past our waking dreams.
On the front porch of no longer
In a flowered wrapper.
The sunset in our morning tea.
Mary angela douglas 22 march 2024