To Poetry, Eluding All Capture Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

truly it eludes our grasp

with a mist so fine

indistinguishable from breath

slip knot from Time

a sun shrunk to a needle of diamond

that fades in the grass, the leaf at dusk

that yet can shake us turning to rust

surpassing all grief in only one line.

like granite sometimes

it may outlast

or fly a variegated kite

on any breeze of our disposition.

whatever your position on it is

or may become

cast it off, a mere snakeskin.

an anchor of gold the moment you try

to ferret out its soul

vain assessor, to determine its atomic weight

measure, balance.

mold it is and startling leaves that dazzle the tree

on saying goodbye without an october warning

the ferns underfoot the larks at morning innocent of sin

rubric of the Rose incarnate Dante died for

the wheel of everything that sings and then

that won't let you in oh and green clear green

the very notes of Eden summoning,

cherished in a dream half remembered;

the gleam on which the day depends.

the last postscript:

almost, the map of God.

mary angela douglas 26 october 2021