I am shunted
between two places.
If life’s a queen,
I’ve lost my aces.
I’ll follow them down
where the brambles go.
Far, far unseen.
Down, down, where the larks all sing.
And flitters past our leafy spring.
I wander down each little road.
Each path and signposts too.
Twist and turn in the undergrowth.
Meets the path where the sky’s not blue.
Nor the croaked turtle’s tune.
Where the living shun most.
I won’t sure pass this way again.
The current slides this way.
Taking you to the slain swan, dear,
So go, don’t pass on your way here.
Go, take care before you’re gone.
And trust, it doesn’t take very long.
For you to soon be lost.
And the Earth will sing a sad song, dear.
You’ll have to reap the cost.
When the mud gets slick
And the good fall sick.
When the going gets tough
And the tar grows rough.
And the birds don’t sing
for he’s lost his wing.
Now good and stuck.
In mind palace muck.
Don’t cross this way ‘gain soon.
Go forth into that
good lovely night,
Quick, here is a little
bit more light.
I bid you a path among the moon.
But stay past three
and the dark finds thee.
Now all this night, you’ll see—
The fae folk sink
deep into your drink.
And it really is time to go
Back through the hedge
Where you went
The path of the rays that
heaven sent.
Lit by her majesty the moon.
But do take care
for hitchhiking fae,
And shake ‘way the wing
That followed you to-day.
For winter and his court do sing.
And oh, what happiness
your death would bring.
You almost missed a feather there.
Death black with a fairy hair.
Go! While you may still take flight.
For the fairies never know
Which way you wither, to and fro.
Don’t cross this road or open
our door.
‘Quoth our raven, ‘Nevermore.’