I Dreamed Perpetual Kingdoms Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

I dreamed perpetual kingdoms

that were not fazed by the waves

or could not vanish submerging their cathedrals


as in Debussy


or waver in the sunlight for a moment

so that we asked, what was that? was it there.

a rainbow brilliance so suddenly dispersed,


I dreamed perpetual kingdoms in the worst of times too


and a winding stair

and I could go there breaking off with my hands

green leaves that would never depart.


and this was the place I rested at noontime

by the hidden streams that curled under a day lit crescent

moon of blue ivory


when the sky shepherd was bringing

the small lambs home


the ones that changed colours

the ones I thought of,

as my own.


mary angela douglas 9 september 2020