Telling Tales

tales be told of mermaids fair

breasts uncovered but for hair

scales of aqua on their fins

cold saline running through their veins

leviathans dwell fathoms deep

where secrets of the dark they keep

pushing back the sands of time

undiscovered serpentines

fairies ring around in glens

entrapping hearts of mortal men

elven ears there listen too

avoiding giants like me and you

and in the caverns dense and deep

trolls survive and rarely sleep

while plotting deeds to frighten kids

that speak and frolic crossing bridge

imagination, gnomes and beasts

gathered waiting for the feast

where tales are told of aliens

that walk and talk and look like men

and do the strangest deeds recalled

the tales of mankind beat them all

always searching for a ring

the precious gold that riches bring

seeing not the magic found

in simple tales above the ground

but seek the ghostly, goblins, ghouls

in fairyland we are the fools

jesters to the world of kings

acquisition, shiny things

bauble-hatted harlequins

juggling loaded bowling pins

while fairy folk look on aghast

in tales of wonder who will last

monsters, dragons keep their peace

to reclaim world when we’re deceased

when we become the tales then told

strange mortals from the days of old

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Dream Works

Elsa huggled in close,

arms around me,

unable to see my face and tears

as Princess Fiona found true love again.

My own princess Anna turned at a sniffle and asked,

‘Are you crying at Shrek?’

Disbelief evident in her tone and on her face.

How to explain to the blue sateen and gauze beside me

That fabric is deceiving,

That beauty is as beauty does

And that surface is only that.

A lesson repeated for the umpteenth time.

Always worth repeating.

Shrek’s one of the good guys.

A prince among men.

I’m glad dreams work in reality.

And that some princesses are taught to know the difference.

Once Upon A Truth

Once upon a time a girl, a boy,

Once upon a time that look, the joy,

Once upon a time the kiss, that touch,

Once upon a time all meant so much.

 

Once upon a rhyme, another day,

Once upon dream, a different way,

Once upon a never that began,

Once upon a woman and a man.

 

Once upon the fairy tales we feast,

Once upon the beauty and the beast,

Once upon the endings ever after,

Once upon book written with new chapters.

 

Fairy tales, some magic and the rest,

Roses, perfume’d poetry at best,

Tales retold in bud of flow’ring youth,

Recount, recant, revamp with shades of truth.

Rebuilding Bridges

Our realities were where they lived. They had always lived among us. Mingling and breeding, filtering the external ugliness over millenia, shape-shifting within families, extending their reach and influence, feeding their appetite for souls. We bled spiritual plasma to these psychic vampires; the Trolls piercing, sucking us almost dry and moving on to greener pastures while burning our bridges between the possible and the proscribed. Sometimes the medication helped, blurred the edges of the fairy tale we lived. Sometimes nothing helped. Spent souls huddled in silence awaiting the Banshee, keening their need to end the days, pleading for the stake that would ease their pain and transformation. Some bridges remained. We began the Rebuild.