Questions To Ask Before Going Away (Revised) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

will there be bright colours there and clouds
and will it snow on Christmas every time, somehow;
will summer last

there longer than it should
making the schoolchild glad as May
when we were dismissed for endless play

will there be fancy icing on the cakes there on display
rosettes and so much gaity
in the little shop windows
such unexpected holidays
and books I've still not read

and roses and lilies too?

and will my heart still break, , ,
into every rainbow hue
after every rain
and what was lost, return again?

mary angela douglas 28 april 2015; 1 december 2023