A Lapidary Stillness Fills The Room (Final Version) Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

a lapidary stillness fills the room
while I'm too tired to hear
the angels singing. forgive me when

I say, oh God
that it seems too mysterious to live this way
but I'm setting the scene the best that
I know how
and jewel by jewel,
as You do.

lay all your shaken griefs aside-
folding the opulent
shadows on the chair
not for the last time, yet-in prayer

while off in the distant
semi-precious Light
a heavy door opens and

then closes-

mary angela douglas 23 august 2011; 4 october 2023