fireplace fairy tales

he wails “worthless” through waning window panes

his dull face detached when the flames seize her flesh

and so she wanders into the wilderness.

woodland fairies with wilted wings shriek,

their backs blazed by passing hounds.

the forest’s edge singed with dead quarry. quiet now

the ghost chorus pledges to sing ballads in the ground

how many pits of ashes for him to cry it out.

a field laid barren with remnants of armories

creatures cauterize memories with hollowed pleas

and mothers memorize their daughter’s melodies

in case she wanders into the wild alone.

for embers leverage themselves in lost

souls searching on trails ablaze in moss

Return the lost soul to the forest's grove

so she may be scooped up and laid with bones

See the cabin, its corpse now laid with crows

so she may see the wildfire welcome her home

Sarah (she/her) has a love-hate relationship with writing, and is currently in her longest reading slump ever. She sometimes dabbles in photography (a forgotten passion), and in her writing she explores topics of family, loneliness, and fitting in.