Will You Travel With A Suitable Heart Poem by Mary Angela Douglas

will you travel with a suitable heart,
one that gets along in the day to day;
the question comes up

and you look away
and go back to the list
of what they want you to bring to camp:

several blouses, sky blue scarves;
summer wear;
no sundresses.

what will you do with the green parasol?
the jewels from the Indies.
never mind, you'll read comics once

you get there and use your change exuberantly
on forbidden orange sodas,
the ones of the ineluctable grape

that still won't exactly cure
your homesickness
or help you when the canoe

inevitably capsizes.
or make up for the ones you miss;
the stars over our backyard.

mary angela douglas 23 june 2016