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