What Have They Done With Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

[in memory of my grandfather, Milton B. Young]


what have they done with
my fairytale alphabet,
chasing down events?

I still believe in your
letters of gold cherished

in secret, guarded in times of war

your bursts of transcendent

light, your roses your
redemption

under your wings your

sorrow I have rested
in modern times

your blue shining skies

replaced for me by
nothing, my cloud, my dream

I will never be banished from

the realm of speaking
and living in you,

oh, my language of stars

mary angela douglas 29 january 1999