Challenging Poetry

the glass woman, a fairy story

1.

mirror, mirror in my hand
show the way to fairyland

2.

once upon a time, many years ago
on the border of Faerie—
where a mortal straying
can lose herself in song
and never come home again,
there was a woman made of glass
who wanted life and love—
but didn’t know how to find them.

3.

what is glass?
sand and fire and breath—
liquid caught
in fantastic shapes
fragile enough to shatter
with a touch,
strong enough to endure
generations.

4.

time flows,
sand through the glass.

5.

her mother warned her,
here in our home the walls are padded,
the floors soft,
safety is here. stay.
but a prince galloped through
(his horse’s hooves jarred her
with every thundering step)
and she loved.
and she followed.
and her mother smiled and waved
and turned away with a heavy heart.

6.

mirror, mirror on the wall,
show the deepest cut of all.

7.

and the prince saw
that the glass woman,
shone in light
like a rainbow,
and that her eyes showed him
as she saw him—mirror eyes—
and he loved her for a while,
but he didn’t see her.
and when she knew him,
her eyes were too true,
and showed him what he was,
he hated her rather than himself,
and spurned the sight of her,
and ran her down on his heavy steed
and she shattered.

8.

a glass lizard
caught by the tail
sheds it

9.

mirror, mirror, you’re so clever—
where’s the joy that lasts forever?

10.

can we leave her on the road—
shards of broken glass
catching the sunlight
and sending rainbows
into the universe?
maybe she is lost then.
maybe she is swept aside
like the remnants of a windshield
after an accident.
but maybe she isn’t, and one
who comes after, cuts his feet
dripping blood on her
mirrored eyes.
and maybe he sees her
the way the prince wouldn’t,
with an artist’s eyes, and picks her up,
and brings her home
where together, with patience
and love and superglue,
she is mended.
and maybe she brings him home,
where her mother
cries over the cracks that will never go away
and doesn’t say that she told her so,
and maybe in time
the glass woman and her artist
live happily ever after.
or maybe not.

11.

I can’t sort the truth from lies.
mirror, mirror, shut your eyes.