Shine Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

to make a beautiful thing
only for its own sake
is also a virtue
to shape its clay
to let it harden in the sun
to paint its colours and glaze
them with your own tears
knowing it is the only one of its kind
and that in this world it may become chipped
broken, crushed under a wheel
fare not well, o heart's admonishment
yet once made, if cherished even a little
surely that is a kind of immortality
this song is for those who once made a beautiful thing
who set it to music perhaps or gilded it with wishes
adorning it with green leaves
somewhere in a world we left behind
may it still shine.
mary angela douglas 11 september 2023