Deep in a forest
Nearly untouched
Where silence was reigning
And wind had been hushed
Stood a tree
In the center
With arms all outfolded
The life-force of them
Each one she was holding
Tiny bugs, swelling lights
Illumined the branches
And music could be heard
From sprightly jig dances
Light as a wisp
Were the fairies in habitat
While their tiny swift wings
Sounded rat-a-tat-tat
“Follow us down, into the heart”
The spirits echoes resounded
So in my curiosity I followed
As images astounded
Deeper and deeper
Pulling vines from my face
When suddenly I arrived
Where time transforms space
Colors danced first to and then fro
Soft greens and creamy hues
While suspended soft white lanterns
Floated delicately as morning dew
Then startled like a stag
As the hunter comes in season
I dropped quickly to the earth floor
As a satyr sprang forth like one in treason
“Dost thou inhale the honeysuckle blossoms?”
Whispered he softly in my trembling ear
“Follow me deeper in, deeper in
Deeper in, my dear”
I looked up into his eyes
But I didn’t see a color
For reflected in them
Was me
Much older, but no other
In my hand
I held a key
With an inscription
I tried to read in haste
But when the satyr blinked
It vanished out of space
And though I’d been taught not to talk to strangers
I felt I had unanswered questions
So I obliged his helping hand
And prepared myself for an arduous riding session
Fast as a whistle
We flew through forest, thick and green
I turned to look back
Until a thorn within my cheek
Led me to yield a whimpering scream
But soon enough we had arrived
And he lifted me lightly to the ground
He smiled and pointed one direction
And when I turned around
He was gone
And all remaining
Was a tiny copper key
With an inscription that merely read
“Remember the pieces of me”
I tied it round my neck
And set off in search of the voices
“Come here, this way…”
They beckoned
And this time they were much closer
For within a few short moments
I felt the forest slowly swaying
Like a beating of the heart
I stepped off a ledge, fell through many leaves
Then landed with a thud and a little start
And here she was, the tree I’d dreamed of
But never thought was true
And sitting at her base, a boy
With eyes of turquoise-blue
“The nymph spirits and I have been waiting”
I heard him kindly say
He drew me in like gravity
Though I had no reply to make
He kissed my hand
Then touched my braided hair
“Would you care to live forever,”
He asked in anticipation
“Who doesn’t,” my lips were moving
Though with somewhat hesitation
I began to hear familiar voices
Calling out from everywhere
But my eyes could not look away
From his intoxicating stare
And as he opened up the tree
I saw another world beyond
“Eternity is waiting”
If I chose to come along
I unlatched his hand for a moment
Only to step a few feet to the clearing
Where I unfastened the key from my necklace
And ignored the voices I was hearing
For I knew that they would always wonder
With whom and where I had gone
Though I had always told them
Like this, I couldn’t carry on
So in a fascinating world I transcended
Where grace flowed in many streams
Joy enveloped my being
I lived as a dreamer of dreams
And when, at last, they came to that clearing
Where I abandoned the life that I knew
They found the trinket I had left them
Though it merely held a clue
And I know they would not have approved
Because at the same level, our eyes never did see
I left them with one will and testament…
“Remember the pieces of me.”
~leah marie
The Blackland Ballad 