Start With A Star (Final Version) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

start with a star
a little brighter than usual
flashing a lighthouse message
above scant trees.

is it that hard
to imagine?
you could be going somewhere else
than the errand you thought you'd choose
or was chosen for you:
a magi's journey through purple darkness

beyond the Christmas card silhouettes
silk-screened across the indigo;
glitter on parchment representing snow
or starlight, take your pick.

and then a cold night.
you're in the fields or just at work;
not thinking of anything at the bus stop

and the light grows larger now
filling half the sky
and work grows dim.

start with a song.
you think you might have heard before
only, not like this, and not for Him

as if the notes had burst all bonds
and turned to gold around and through
your listening attuned to nothing else.

start with a feeling, almost a little jeweled
washed silver to gold and back again
tree resin is singing too now
through all the winter trees

of gilded apples on the branches of the universe
you only thought you knew.
and life starting over with the Star.

mary angela douglas 25 december 2013; 20 october 2023