THE FAIRY WARS
(OPENING SALVO)
by Candyce Byrne
Wiping the sill with a
wet sponge,
she flicks the tiny
bodies of fallen heroes
—most ripped wing from
wing—
into her palm and
brushes them into the trash.
Fairies are an
unsentimental lot, she hopes, not given to revenge…
* * * * *
"The Fairy Wars
(Opening Salvo)" was originally published in Thin Ice (January 1995).
Candyce Byrne studied music, English and journalism and is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and Clarion West. She has been a broadcast journalist and anchor, a science writer and editor, managed publicity for nonprofit organizations, helped found and run a theatre for nearly two decades, and is currently the book review editor for NewMyths. In addition to poetry she writes short stories and plays and has published in Grasslands Review, Xizquil, Magic Realism, Thin Ice, Bay Laurel, Asimov's and NewMyths.
Suspense increases exponentially with the irresistible title heralding such a whimsical opening. We know what mighty duels lie ahead, yet I, for one, likely will be breaking out in random giggles the rest of this weekend as a persistent hunger scratches with leprechaun irreverence somewhere in my decadent viscera.
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