When Will The White Birds Rise Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

after the Celtic myths*
==========================
when will the white birds rise
from an alien music
when will the spell

burn off and their

widening cadence free
the radiance hardly missed-

the mute years,

uncherished solace?
when will the white words rise
like snow lifted upwards
into a dome-like Heavenly requital
by winds so deeply
filled with stars?

when will the white birds rise
and the children wash
the sand from their eyes

bright as a bridal evanescence
a fragile opalescence, over-spun
suddenly to anyone appearing

through the sheer skies that have no need


no longer thrash with wings
your still-born air
everything there is to bear

already has been borne
by Christ the Lord
and light is near:

let lamentation die
and swerve, swerve away
from the ancient coasts of sorrow
(and tears inlaid with tears)

when the white birds rise

mary angela douglas 28 october 2008; 29 september 2023

*such as, for example, the Celtic myth 'The Children of Lir'