Shutdown, The Stars Have Scattered Before The Devastated Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

'The earth is the Lord's; and the fullness thereof...'

-The Psalms

the angels at the entrance did not speak
but gestured toward the sky, the earth, the sea
and snow formed words and hardened everywhere

and we are under glass
as in a musuem; artifacts at last.
and blue and green and gold a crime scene.
leaves of flame half-quenched drift over the barriers
not knowing the rules.
.
the angels at the entrance did not speak.
how could they?
the Soul was closed.

the emblems desecrated
on a day when we are mere tourists
turned away from the land under our feet.

my heart under glass
we are locked down
and wistful at windows where the Bell has
cracked again from these bizarre sorrows.
look down oh Christmases dispersed
oh Magi fading fast

in the grey gloom I will gather you
and storm the barricades hidden and in plain view
of the weeping ghosts of those who gave their lives

mary angela douglas 10 October 2013