Secret Flights Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

you imagine snow, snow at the poles
snowfall on distant diamond stars
or falling within

in your mind there are no tracks
only the blessedness of snow
covering the artifacts

so that you no longer remember
what you don't want to know
and there are the secret flights of birds

tinged with the gold of ancient lore
enchanted forever
beyond the margins of the world

these are your flights also
in the interval you can think of them
don't let go

of the snows of the mind
of the secret flights
you are going away

where all is velvet
antiphon echoing in a hidden chamber
beauty salvaging the wreckage

mary angela douglas 6 march 2017