the harmony fills
my soul as the
beauties open
their rose lips
and let out an
ethereal sound
that shatters
the queen's cup
spilling scarlet liquid
on paper skin,
she laughs
and sound bounces
off sound making
it all the more
glorious, she
smiles still
entranced by
children's voices,
a single tear
rolls down the
queen's face
and bumps
appear out of
nowhere
all over her
glowing skin,
the sunlight
dapples the
ground filtering
through the
trees making
the faces
from which
the music is
flowing
shine bronze,
peace fills
every moment but
one,
in which
a cry rang out
breaking the
glass web spun
by children,
the queen is
thrown from
her bench and
it is broken
in two,
the warm breeze
that once carried
music now
carries cries of
children being
beaten and the
screams of a mother
who cannot help
her dying baby,
then, suddenly,
there is quiet
again and it
settles like
a woolen blanket
over the remnants
of peace.
---M.Walsh
Copyright (c) 2001 by Margaret Walsh. All Rights Reserved.