FAIRY TALE

by Jacquelyn Shah


Journey
None of that packed-boxcar stuff—
the trip to the ball’s in a carriage
with tufted cushions, windows draped in velvet. 
Every passenger has room to stretch.
Footmen gossip, telling tales in ready ears
of many-splendored-things. No one questions
lilies overwhelming the interior. 

Ball
Champagne  laughter  lobster  oysters
lace & brocade   goblets & trays   curtsies & bows   
In high-polished boots & rhinestone tiaras
couples swirling to Chopin, Opus 53, A-flat major.
But the dance floor is sticky & littered
with needles of glass 
when midnight strikes.
Red feet run!
Too late . . . a hunched figure fattens in shadows,  
teeth tearing at orange shells.


Everafter
Front stoop   fenced yard  
tuna and bruises 
bed & broom  bed & pot  bed & church  
bed oven  bed toilet  bed bed bedpan 
chain of open mouths   gleaming knife   iron steaming 
beer & set jaw  
A hunched figure shines boots, praying
to that old sniper-in-the-sky, tanked & callous  
gluing yellow stars each night on a big black page.


* * * * *

Jacquelyn “Jacsun” Shah, iconoclast, pacifist, has an A.B.–English (Rutgers U); M.A.– English (Drew U); M.F.A. and Ph.D.–English literature/creative writing–poetry (U of Houston). Her publications include chapbook: small fry; full-length book: What to Do with Red; and poems in journals––Rhino, Gyroscope Review, Woven Tale Press, Unlost Journal, Blue Unicorn, Plath Profiles, et al. She was the winner of Literal Latté’s 2018 Food Verse Contest.