the princess of darkness

the

princess of darkness

only wears black

cuz she is

allergic to colors

tho sometimes

purple works

but the others

give her hives

and itchy eyes

and sometimes make

her sneeze

when she was a girl

she wanted to

live in a cave

with dragons

and learn magic

cuz being a princess

she thought

was for the birds

she was born into

a notorious family

who lived in

a ramshackle castle

on loads of lumpy land

but they have

pastures there too

and three waterfalls

up the mountain

and a river that

flows down below

that turns

their funny farm

into half an island

with a beaver dam

for a moat

they have

squirrel monkeys

and wild turkeys

and sheep

made from wool

and albino bunnies

with pink eyes

and a pet skunk

named petunia

and a funny ferret

that’s allergic

to itself

they have

a herd of moose

to mow the lawn

and eat the vegetables

from the garden

so the weeds grow better

and  black chubby bears

that pick the apples

prunes and pears

from the orchard

to make cider

for their potlunk lunches

and dances

they have

laughing lamas

that need braces

for their buck teeth

but they don’t care

cuz they’re too busy

telling secrets

cracking jokes

and snickering

when no one

is looking

there is also

a cranky coyote

and a baby

doe ray me deer

and a minor bird

that says

‘holly crow!’

And there are

cows that make

chocolate milk

and a polka dot bull

named bozo the clown

and a calf called

panda bear

and its twin

called adnap

which is panda

spelt backwards

there’s a

rainforest walk

thru the woods

and along the creek

there are

dinosaur bones

to mark the way

and an elephant trail

down the side of the hill

where all the wild animals

run hop and walk

down to the swamp

there is a clay cliff

that the

princess of darkness

used to roll and

summer salt down

when she was

young and bored

and she would

swim in the swamp

cuz it was warmer

than the river

and besides

she likes snakes

lizards and leeches

and pond sediments

she would often

swing from a rope

and drop into the pond

like tarzan

the monkey man

she liked to play marbles

and collect black

and orange caterpillars

and five leaf clovers

and talk pig latin

to kittens

and ride cows

till they came home

and imitate the monkeys

and take petunia

the skunk

for a stroll

she would play

in the hayloft

and make forts

that were so quiet inside

that all she could hear

were spiders

washing their

dandy long legs

getting ready

for a supper of

tea and truffles

(lady bugs)

these days the

princess of darkness

lives in a shack

by the sea

that you can only

get to by dragon ferry

you have to pay

to get there

but you are free

to leave

she has a

sky blue dinghy

with a hole

and only one oar

so she rows

frantic in circles

around friendly pet seals

who laugh

at her antics

she floats on the ocean

On an air mattress

With her pillow

And zebra flannel blanket

Searching the sea

For walruses and hunch back whales

And mongoose and loon

Or One otter

Or another

she spends days

flying kites

and collecting

heart shaped rocks

from the beach

and driftwood

that turns into

sculptures of

sea creatures

and she nicks flowers

from  yards of

deserted dream homes

she hopscotches

down her secret path

where she plants

giant daisie

and picks giant dandilions

and pussy willows

and she pets armadillos

and porcupines

and tries to find

centaurs unicorns

and leprechauns

then she sits

all camouflage like

on a toad’s stool

by a magic brook

throwing pennies in

and making wishes

like for a pet otter

or a purple rainbow

she runs

laughing rampant

with a friend

along the giggle path

and climbs hugging trees

and then jumps from

a big rock

into the sea

for a swim

with the seals

and dolphins

and float on her back and listen

forthe sound of

mermaids singing

at nite she plays

connect the dots

with the stars

and she shoots purple smarties

(gumdrops)

with her sling shot

at the moon

she has orphan bears

come to her door

like salty sea dogs

looking for biscuits

and fish soup

she lets in hobo cats

and stray dogs

to give them a pat

like little war vets

she plays

like tomorrow is today

and yesterday

hasn’t happened yet

the sea is her tv

the view is her painting

the waves are her breath

the birds are her music

the sun her guiding light

the sand is her path

and the beach

is now her home

kat kosiancic

december 2005

© 2018 Estate of Kat Kosiancic