Arsenic Lobster poetry journal
Issue Nineteen
Spring 2009
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A Fairy Tale, Clarified
Mercedes Lawry

The gardener is missing.
The sovereign is distressed.
Pink and white, all those blooms
a heaven disappearing. Guilt
hides behind trees and in the cellar.
And love will not conquer all
no matter the ransom.
A blue penny sky after rain.
The shears are gone, too.
Everyone line up, the command
comes down and despite muttering
in exquisite quantity, they do.
The gardener is still missing.
Leaves pile up, roots angle
dangerously. Someone is peering
at the new growth.
Cups of tea are offered left and right.
People keep their jobs, even
servants and the trees are older
than everyone. The sovereign
makes a wish as pale shadows
take a last turn down the lane.
Holes in the clouds. What grows better
in the shade? The cook can’t tell you.
Friday is coming, when the sun rises.
Count the hours, it always
comes out the same.

About Mercedes Lawry

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