Should We Live Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

should we live-
interpreting the colours of flowers;
finishing our schoolwork

in green ink?
paying attention to
the linen calendar towels

with their imprints of red barns,
old mill streams, currier and ives?
dreaming the Christmas countdowns away?

purple and lemon are the skies there
above the memorialized skaters. or
on tin trays made up for the holidays,

overseas.
should we memorize art songs
before they're no longer sung?

at least not simply,
from the heart
standing still;

your mouth like a cherry O so
filled with birds.
in a pale gown, an extravagant shawl.

Song, like the scent of gardenias.
through the breezeways,
it lingers...

oh I will fly away she called
to an Age that murmured naturally,
poetry should be beautiful,

the golden ball retrieved for the Princess-
from the well of the world.
or, not at all.

mary angela douglas 4 october 2015