Preparing To Leave Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

PREPARING TO LEAVE

Fading here
are we already brighter there
I woke up in this riddle
moonlight at the door
and wondering
how wonderment does not cease
I noted in the field notebook of dream
even when we can no longer quote
the rose underlined passages
what will we carry
over that bridge
will we forget
and leave something beautiful by default
we may need later
how may one plan for such a trip
from which you never return
when you don't even know
when you're going
the moon asked the snows
before they had even fallen
all our chronologies fail
our pitiful lists of things to do
in the end
there are only angels left
music, and distant flowers.
an abandonment of hours.
mary angela douglas 1 october 2023