a conversation

queer-with-a-pen

the witch comes to visit

with soup and a story

sets an old pot on

the bard’s little wood-burning stove

and he watches as she works,

perched on a stool

 

and the witch, she tells

the bard about the stars,

how they always remember

and live for thousands of years

 

there is one star in particular

she weaves a tapestry about

with her words,

but only where that star cannot hear

taken by pirate ship upon the waves

 

she speaks, with something like

fondness and resignation

about how this star,

he fell in love with the moon

 

and when the moon was

too far for him to follow

his love turned towards the ocean

and how it stretches from

one end of the horizon to the other

 

the bard knows this star well,

of course, often wakes with him

slumbering still, between the

bard and the closed bedroom door

 

the witch then asks the bard

what he is tied to

and the bard tells her who

he is anchored to

 

and, setting a bowl of

soup on the well-worn table,

the witch says, with unmistakable 

fondness this time,

“then you are a fool, bard of mine”

 

the bard nods in agreement,

almost tells the witch he

only eats lunch for her,

but suspects she already knows,

so says instead, 

“aye, and a fool in love

is the very worst kind” 

 

and the witch will agree,

because the bard is right

 

but, she will also tell

the bard how this star,

he loves a man

with scars through his eyebrow

and across the palm of his hand

from building a widow’s walk

with the star’s name on his tongue

the whole time

 

and there is an honesty

in loving someone to the point

of creation again and again,

is there not? 

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Comments +

Comments1

  • James Michael

    Reminds me of The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. The bard and witch have so much wisdom as the little prince did. A must read if you haven’t done so already.

    I love when you tie things together at the end of some of your poems. Well, most of them I think. This ol’ noggin isn’t what it used to be!

    • queer-with-a-pen

      That’s my very favorite book! I’ve owned, and given away, more copies than I can count. I am so indescribably flattered to have my little poem compared to such a fantastic work, my friend!

      • James Michael

        It is my favorite book as well. The metaphors are simply astounding! I just bought a hard copy to pass on to my grandchildren (I have two). Now I understand the deep influence it has had on your poetry.

        “It is only in the heart that one see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Words to live by.



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