"Of Fairies and Futures"
Little girls grow up fast,
and their thoughts turn
from tea parties to
taking out boys.
They leave behind
their dolls and dollhouses
and tiny white furniture,
picket fences made from
popsicle sticks no longer
holding in their dreams.
It is the fairies who come
to pick up the pieces,
carting away the remnants
of childhood with which
to decorate their village.
Here are the tiny evergreens
and the ground covered
with miniature ivy.
Here are the wee ivory flowers
and the toadstools too.
Here is the pebbled path,
a spur of the Third Road
to Fair Elf-Land, where
many a poet has trod.
Little girls may grow up,
not thinking of fairies or futures,
but someone, somewhere,
is always thinking of them.
* * *
Notes:
A fairy garden is an arrangement of miniature plants and props, often kept in a pot. Here is an example. Learn how to make a fairy garden.
Thomas the Rhymer is a famous fairytale which appears in both story and ballad formats. You can listen to the ballad online. The reference to the Third Road leading to Fair Elf-Land comes from there.