The Story Could Always Have Gone Another Way Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

perhaps I was careless and didnt watch the time
but who could expect that the coaches made of pumpkins
would all break down in the same rhyme;
fairy godmothers always understate their advisories
already my new blue dress looks limp
and the trail behind me is littered with sequins falling off
it doesnt matter now what at the time seemed
devastating
Im taking a new approach to work
and lining the cupboards with sprigged paper now
we've called the engagement off.
I was always happier alone
just a stone's throw from my mother's grave
where the birds sing as if they were made of silver
and they chime
and I will live here for a long long time.
darning the Mysteries.

mary angela douglas 27 april 2023