Thus Your Fairy is Made                                                     

Your daughter is the bank.

The butterflies know and light

upon her, a bright crown on

fluttered curls. Tissue-paper wings

unfold from her back—art glass

swirled in the mouths of gods and

 

blown to buoy night’s dreams into

day’s life. Beads of coral and jade

skim the boat of her neckline and

pull your vessel in. Moor yourself

against the clear pure voice that

ebbs beneath her skin of snow and

 

milk. In her slender hands she holds

a beaded purse, your whole world:

sea-green silk soughed

in mesh of golden thread and pearls.

Gathered, tied, held     for you:

 

A thing of value

           in a thing of value

                      in a thing of value.

 

The full title of this painting by Sophie Anderson was taken from a poem by Charles Ede: Take the fair face of woman, and gently suspending, with butterflies, flowers, and jewels attending, thus your fairy is made of most beautiful things. Though the title has changed, this poem presented itself, almost exactly as you see it here, in an Amherst-style workshop held in my living room Oct. 27, 2006. One of a number of posters made available as a self-selected prompt inspired it, along with a phrase from a dream, which became the first line.

by

Copyright © 2009 Susan Lawson

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