The Rollercoaster At The Time Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

sometimes did it seem to you on the roller coaster
it wasn't we who moved, but the scenery flickering behind us
as in old movies it sometimes happens
when the carnation sun perhaps the little cerise cloud are sepia
toned and the film score lavish with violins
and we are not ourselves alone
but attended by mystical angels keeping the camera still.
then we were invited to participate in certain world events
manufactured, on the sly with the whole carnival going by
on wheels, the other direction
so it is to live with our imperfections
and yet to be flooded with Grace
how it feels in the slipstream of Time
as imagined by the newspapers
with supra fantastic headlines:
somewhere we seem to be lined up
our heads counted as if we
were on a field trip
and at the end we may go home
and gold painted summer will be ours
but oh my friend
school days are over
and some should have always been
never about to begin
and yet in the heart a secret lily is tended
that by now, has bloomed into various stars.
the précis of wonder.

mary angela douglas 1 february 2022; 20 march 2023