Fragments of a Possum

~ questions from a sprite to a lady who cannot sleep ~

Did the night sky spark with diamonds?
Did you hear the mermaid's song?
Did you wander out at midnight?
Did the hours seem desperate long?

Did you frolic with the faeries?
Did the elves dance in the glen?
Did you hide among the bushes --
Did they welcome you right in?

Were the dragons jaunty as could be,
Bedecked to dance or fly?
Did you kiss a unicorn for me --
Well, did you? Did you try?

Did you tiptoe 'long from star to star
To help the sandman sow,
The dreams of lovers, saints and all
The sinners here below?

Did you see the moonlight glisten
On the shores of Avalon?
Did you listen silent to your soul
To hear a lover's song?

Lass, settle softly down to sleep,
For dawn's the time to bide.
The magic of the night will keep
The dreams you hold inside.

I deem it not so wondrous strange,
When faeries came that night.
The frost was on the pumpkin,
And the geese had taken flight.

September month can be so cruel;
So wrapped up in my shawl,
I crept into the garden
Where the darkness cast a pall.

As if some careless, withered hand
Cast diamonds in the sky,
One gem had lost its balance,
and a shooting star went by.

As I traced my steps back to my bed,
to sleep...at least to try.
(I often wonder, looking back,
Did the stardust cloud my eye?)

There upon the open grass,
Just between the porch and swing.
When the night was coming into day,
I saw this wondrous thing.

Those little bits of little souls,
So happy dancing there.
When faerie flights are viewed at night --
A sight beyond compare!

Now, I am from New England stock.
Not taken with such notions.
Solid, sane, and sensible,
Not wrought by such emotions.

But the night I saw the faeries dance
Marked a change upon my life.
Oh, I told no one I saw them;
It would only bring me strife.

But locked away inside my soul
There grew a lightness there.
A secret joy that made me smile,
Left others unaware.

It made my life more bearable
When pain became my manse,
To remember in my younger days...
I saw the faeries dance.

I have studied constellations
In the firmament at night,
I have picked a star or two,
To 'wish I may and wish I might.'
And still I search, and still I wonder,
'Did He make one?' And so I try,
To find the one, He meant to shine down,
On a poor fool such as I.

Gather up the moonbeams,
Measure me the stars,
Sweep up all the fairy dust,
Store it all in jars.

Bring me fragrant flowers
Which bloom beneath the snow.
Show me colors in the wind,
And tell how does it blow.

Weave me rhymes with rainbows,
Fresh with scent of fall,
Siphon up the ocean,
And roll it in a ball.

When you have run these errands,
Just lay them at my feet.
I will not say "I love you,"
I will murmur, "You are sweet."

I shall marvel at the moonbeams,
And treasure fairy dust,
Appreciate stars' measurements,
Till all the earth turns rust.

I shall feast my eyes on flowers,
still frosty from the snow.
And ponder palettes of the wind;
Keep secrets that I know.

I will read your rainbow rhymes
with essence of the fall.
Dip my toe into an ocean
You have rolled into a ball.

When you complete these errands,
Do all I ask of you,
I will not say "I love you,"
I will give you more to do!

You pinged me pompous poet!
The audacity of you!
To ping a poor one such as I --
A heart so staid and true.

I revile, rebuke and loathe you
my 'puter is so sore,
And yet, that dreadful pinging
Comes more and more and more.

Does it pang you when you ping me?
Is it always such a game,
That you disavow you do it?
Yet, I know it all the same.

Who'd have thought,
who might have guessed it;
Did you know it from the start
When you pinged to my computer
You would also ping my heart?

Hold my hand or I may falter
Blink your eyes and I may fall
Steady on we'll meet the morning
Though dark minions cast the pall

Wash away my tears with moonbeams
Move a mountain with your sigh.
Faith is all it takes you tell me,
Push back boundaries of the sky.

Stars trail honey in the heavens
Mother moon has birthed the pearls
Magic now! But far below us
Far and fleeting, different worlds.

Sunrise marks the trail before us
Diamond dawn, a sweeter clime,
Transfixed within your maze of magic
Far beyond the land of time.

© Possum

How he came by his title is no great debate,
The mathematics a fool could divine,
In line of succession, he's two above eight,
And that isn't two thousand and nine!

The laws of his Kingdom, the codes, if you will,
Are none that Hammurabi could tell,
But the Count to Ten knows, and will bid you be still.
While he checks all your html.

The heat in his Kingdom, it vexes him much,
He would prefer cold till he freezes!
He loudly complains, to those snow-bound and such,
Till they all start to mutter, "Sweet Jesus.."

"He's a Prince among men," most folks might profess,
But I know it is dreadfully true,
He is one among ten, but a Count nonetheless,
of twenty divided by two.

What wonder with heartache my eyes now behold,
Profusion of colour, the green and the gold.
Sweet sadness, it lingers not long to my eye.
Ah! To strike such perfection before it must die.

In the lessons of nature, now turn, now intone,
From trees to that life's blood we claim as our own,
Near the end of our days, like the green midst the gold,
A soul's beauty shines through, though we're feeble and old.
Aged, bent, and broken, life's lessons learned nigh,
A step toward perfection before we must die.

'Tis the plan of the Master, that all may retain,
A forward progression with a chance left to gain...
As steadfast, unerringly time marches on,
The peak of perfection before we are gone.