THE SEEING HEART AND THE SCARECROW, RENDERED IN CHARCOAL

there, by the Seeing Heart, and not the stream
that makes its murky way into an ancient seam
I paused and did not want to go again.

invisible world made more invisible with Time
how can I see you locked into rhyme
that falls away.

made for the coffee crowd.

these ragged rocks convey what might have been
I sense in the world at large such desolation.
friendlessness

and all is scarecrow, a highway dream sign
reads: Beware.
Here there's no crossing at all.

let ravens seem rubied in the sunset air
but I know better.
this is not lark blue happiness

but a dubious stair, where the gnats
swarm after long rains and
the havens have grown over everywhere

the cataracts bode no good.

and where you stood once
in an enchanted wood
an emerald light filtering down

has turned into a town foreboding;
the scarecrow's straw tears.

mary angela douglas 7 july 2019