Shivering On The Edge Of Awake, Unable To Jump

In a lovely dungeon, dark and deep
Is the musky chest where a princess keeps
Seven secret scrolls sealed in shiny wax
For the day when her castle walls show cracks.

In an antique desk with Egyptian locks
Is a velvet-lined dark cherry box
Where a set of jewels and a pearl should be
But instead sits yellow ivory.

(By a muddy stream through a night-time wood
Is an old log cabin, shut for good
With an upturned table at the door
Just in case the bear should come back for more.)

In the sky, near the sun, an invisible star
Has a satellite solitude roughly as far
As our own dying planet is teetering 'round
The essential attraction to which we are bound.

2000-11-27