Why Is History Almost Always Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

WHY IS HISTORY ALMOST ALWAYS

why is history almost always
taught as the history of everything terrible
that ever happened to some or all of the people

left on the shore
and the earthquake is coming
the years without reprieve

the innocent seized upon
the heart in need.
I long to learn

the history of light
how ferns unfurled
the history of night

the bright emblematic
history of the stars
of fireflies in jars released

the history of peace
if only for one moment;
live, in that moment

the history of summers
in the evening breeze
the shade of trees.

the rock where God abides.

why can't it be
no longer the history of lies but
the history of fortresses that worked.

at least for a while
the honeysuckle and the baby's smile
the truce established.

the prayers till dawn.

the embellished stories
the sum of our hopes
the Christmases when we were home.

no more the barbarians at the door
the time of drought.
I want to find out

how the heart was singing still
despite all evidence to the contrary
in undisclosed kingdoms; how did they feel

the beautiful and real who held the line.
and within the bells still yet to ring
the dream of Spring and other things

why won't they tell us, that.
on all the pink and green maps.

mary angela douglas 31 may 2018