The Documents The Queen Must Never See Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

'Je te defendrai a la derniere carriere.'*
-Mary, Queen of Scots

the documents the queen must never see
are locked inside a cloud that
cannot weep

and it will take too long to
cast off the embroidery
that could have caused true

rescuers to come

not many ivory ships
will sail until:
you waken, foundered,
in a green wood

and witnesses are called
who have no voice-

a shimmering rush of wings:
the tongue-cut sparrows
lace the sky
lace the sky

with warnings bright as tromp l'oeil patterns

through the window of
the last cell

mary angela douglas 2 november 2005/10 november 2005
copyright 2006

*'I shall defend Thee while I still draw air.'