Faewilde Sestina
♦ Thomas Beard ♦
♦ Thomas Beard ♦
I was in the Faewilde once
I gave the faeries there my mind
And they stole it, for a flower
I was told that if it should bloom
I would have fortune’s blessing
And safety from the darkness of death forever
You have not seen forever
Until you realize more than once
That you have lost your mind
But the mind is like a flower
It comes and goes, dies and blooms
And such a death can be a blessing
The day after I received my blessing
I felt as though I’d slept forever
To a stranger’s voice I woke at once
But the voice was only in my mind
I looked over to my nightstand, to my flowers
And in a thousand colors they had bloomed
Never now have I met a bloom
That did not sing praise of my blessing
And now I hear that song forever
All the un-voices singing at once
The tempting whispers in my mind
Persuading evils out of flowers
I have no mercy left for flowers
No blood to spare for thirsty blooms
I have not a man’s, but a faerie’s blessing
A private taste of the forever
That I thought I wanted, once
As a feverish flower born of a dead mind
Gentle forever, steal my mind
Plant it, water once, and watch it bloom
Then feed my blessing to a flower