The Beautiful Mechanism Winding Down Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

(for the Emperor's nightingale; for Hans Christian Andersen)

the beautiful mechanism winding down
where is the jeweler he can't be found in all the kingdoms
all around to make the predictable song go round again
and the emperor is dying
there where the key melts in the lock
and none of the clocks can fix the times
to when in sheer and pearl design
the real nightingale healed.
creep close in the gardens
for Death has come
ready to seize
him by the throat
all for the want of one true note
suddenly, a glory in the moonrise
the real nightongale espied
warbling the dusk back into the dawns
and Death is stirred
weeping among the white roses.
he opens his eyes
and the lilac song goes on.

mary angela douglas 21 may 2023