Long ago, in lands untold
Stood silent sentinels of old.
And to the seasons, faces bold
they showed, with steadfast branches.

Those trees — how tall!
How straight and proud!
With magic and splendor endowed,

Those trees — so strong!
So fierce and great!
Serenity they did create,

And when the breeze shuffled their leaves,
The Sprites would congregate.



With the seasons danced the Sprites
Their steps as quick and smooth and light
As softly-creeping shades of night
That slid through summer sunshine.

Summersong is sweet and long:
(As fairies must the day prolong)
But with the chilling wind-gusts strong
Come dances dull and boring.

And so it be, one winter’s eve
Scuffing about a frozen tree
One fairy listened to the sea
And heard the ocean calling.

A song it sang— 
[i]Such songs it sang![/i]
The fairy sat, enraptured.
What lovely sound—
[i]Such lovely sounds![/i]
The wav’ring notes did capture.

The fairy’s voice did stick and crack
When to the ocean sang she back
And though her song refinement lacked
She sang with adoration.

But songs unheard oft are observed:
It took her kin aback.

“You’re mad!” Sprites cried. 
“But why?” They sighed.
They covered up their ears.
“Surely you see 
That faries be
Dancers: no singing here!”

“If it is not your song to sing
Then only trouble will it bring.
If seasong isn't your plaything,
Then leave it be and dance.”

Alone she found herself once more,
Still thinking of yon distant shore.
Deciding to protests ignore,
She for the ocean headed.


[hr]


Out from the forest ventured she
With cheerful step and spirit free—
She left her world of dance and tree
For distant serenading.


The mighty cliffs did oversee
The kneeling, pensive, devotee
That rushed to pray,
With mighty spray.
Then to its brethren flee.

Standing upon the jagged ledge
Toeing the flimsy, crumbling edge, 
Her dainty wings still yet to fledge, 
She froze, and hesitated.

Gusts of wind 
Climbed up cliff-face— 
Hissing, threat’ning, chilling space
That seemed to tell her of her place
Dancing within the trees.

But from the waves crashing below:
A song did with the current flow.



Step by step,
With courage grand.
Inch by inch,
She moved her hand.
Careful, careful,
Did she plan
Each toehold taken from the land.

But rock-held water holds no grip,
And nearly finished was her trip
When trait’rous foot did slide and slip:
Downwards the fairy tumbled.



Around her, louder, rang the song
Of oceans deep, of currents strong
And now she realized, all along—
She sang a song of war.

The current paid her little mind,
Until she dusted off her climb
And begged a moment of its time:
[i]Teach me to sing?[/i] she pleaded.

In response, she earned a roar:
If angry seemed the sea before,
Foam-tipped hands now swarmed the shore
And plucked her from her boulder.



How cold, how cruel, how beauty-sore
Did seem the shell-strewn ocean floor,
But still the song she once adored
Did flood the fairy’s ears.

Pinned by the briny, shifting weight
Of sea-held distaste, dislike, hate— 
Spurned by her goal to emulate,
The sprite would surely drown.

For songs of war try to restrain
With force and pow’r and blunt-tipped pain,
But in the fairy still remained
A tune of hope and awe.

Out of the sea!
Out to the shore!
Her struggle thus began.
Out of the foam!
Out to the land!
She raced the current’s hand.

But when at last her arms collapsed,
She lay upon the sand. 


[hr]


Sweetly, softly, silence coos— 
And from her spot atop the dunes
A melody of solitude 
Surrounded her with care

She sat up — blinking back the salt
That dripped from eyelash down the faults
Of sea-slapped face, and found its halt
Upon the grainy sand.

How quiet, here,
With sea and sand
Meandering in tranquil strand,
With water meeting verdant land — 
The fairy sighed, relaxing.

No songs of war,
Nor angry shore,
Disturbed her well-earned rest.
No swelling crests
That tried their best
To pull her to sea-floor

But from the depths did manifest
A softer song’s encore.



Across the beach, hidden away
From lapping wave and ocean spray,
Beach creatures watched the fairy stray
And wondered how to help her.

From fronds of grasses, silently
They watched, shifting tent’ively, 
Hoping perhaps that maybe she
would simply go away.

The fairy spared them not a glance
For once again she was entranced
By singing from the wide expanse
Of oceantide before her.

[i]There![/i] She saw
In water far.
She gasped in awe,
Her mouth ajar.
For ocean’s maw
And morning star
Did sing with waves aplenty



A quiet, lonely serenade
For such songs of sadness made,
But still the fairy thought to trade
Her dancing for a hymn.

Around, she searched
For sea-strong perch
That cross the waves could take her search—
At last she found
Upon the ground,
A scrap of weathered birch.

To the water! Off she ran,
With makeshift raft and makeshift plan
To sail across the glitt’ring span
Of waters wide and foreign.

Atop the ocean deep and blue
She went, with courage firm and true:
Adrift with intent to pursue 
That melody so distant.

A song of loneliness she heard, 
Growing more clear with every word— 
But still she ventured, undeterred
By mournful notes abounding.

“Hello!” She cried, when last she stood 
Surrounded by the waves.

“I wondered if perhaps you could
Teach me your singing ways?”

And to assure of motives pure
She danced the Spring Ballet.

Leaps and twirls and spins abound!
(How else would news of spring resound
Through gardens slumb’ring ‘neath the ground
If fairies did not wake them?)

Upon her raft the fairy moved
With graceful elegance to prove
That should her singing they improve,
She could the ballet teach them.

The waves around her seemed to still
As they observed gift of goodwill— 
(For strange it was, that in the chill
Of winter, sprites should venture:
Out from the forest standing guard
With sentinels so strong and hard.)
And yet the Sprite sought what was barred
From her: the lonely sea-song.

So when her dance came to an end
The ocean did her gift commend:

“Oh Fairy kind! Unlikely friend!
We do so all agree:
So lovely of you to extend
The gesture of the trees.

"But from the forest we do not
In actuality
Possess a purpose for the thought
of dances, undersea."

"We are not sprites!” The sea foam laughed
And from her spot upon her raft
The fairy persevered and asked,
“Oh, surely you will teach me?”

“Can you not see how far I’ve come?
From cliffs violent and forests glum— 
Chasing a song so I might hum
Melodies sweet and lilting?

Teach me to sing! That’s all I want!
So that I won’t your tastes affront!
And if required, be quite blunt,
So that my voice might please you.”

Finished at last, she listened fast,
But laughed the waterfront,

“Oh Fairy, dear! We shan’t forget
How sweetly you arrived.
Good fortune will your charm beget:
Our thanks we won’t deprive.

So from this shore we’ll evermore
Toward your goodness strive!”

And taking the birch raft in hand
(Upon which still the Sprite did stand)
Away from forest, cliff, and land
The waves happily sent her.

Out to distant parts unknown
Away from shore, 
Away from home,
And though they sent her on her own,
The waves bade her farewell.


[hr]


Onward, onward, sailed the sprite 
Through twilit evening, star-strewn night.
Asleep she fell, until the light
Of morning gently woke her.

Around the makeshift driftwood raft
(Still solid, for quick handicraft!)
Blossomed a mirror that held entrapped
The colors of the dawn.

Such magic swirls of pinks and gold— 
Shades of azure and crimson bold— 
Oh, how the morning placed its hold
Upon the waveless sea!

From glassy, painted waters still
Rose rock-hewn mountains, pillars, hills— 
With hopes of kindness and goodwill
The fairy drifted toward it

Upon the rocks perched maidens fair
[right][i]singing sweetly, softly, sweetly[/i][/right]
Brushing undulating hair
[right][i]brushes flashing, laughing, clashing[/i][/right]
Stretched from head down to the flair
[right][i]fins encircling, scales encircling[/i][/right]
Where tapered waist met glitt’ring tail

“Hello,” they cried
“Well met!” They sang
“However did you find
Yourself out here
So far from home!
And to that raft confined?

Need you any of our help?
We’ll surely ease your bind.”

With hopeful eyes and heaving sigh,
She told them of her quest awry,
And how she sought to fortify
Her heart with songs of beauty.

She told the maids of seasons cold,
How winter’s dances grew so old,
And how the others jumped to scold
The one who dared to sing.

“And so,” she said, lifting her head,
“I took the path less often tread,
“And came to hear your song instead—
Now will you music teach me?”

The maidens fair
(With lovely hair
From down their backs
To fin-found flare)—
With joyous clapping filled the air
And soothed her weary heart.

“Of course!” They cried,
“Why not?” They sang.
“Through trials long you fought
And with your home your freedom bought
We have but one request:

We’ll share our serenade with you
But teach us Summer’s dance.”

(For melodies may still entrance:
A quiet sigh, a passing glance,
But longed the mermaids to enhance
Their tools of love and beauty).

At that the fairy broadly grinned.
She spread her wings,
Around them spinned, 
At last! Her journey met its end
Within the city singing.


She found her students quick to learn
The movements by which seasons turn.
Around her raft, the waters churned
With graceful education.

Arms above
And fins below,
Fast as storm-borne winds could blow,
Like petals caught in rainy flow,
The fairy taught them summer.

Twist and twine,
And swirl in time
To music fine,
(And no shoreline 
To break the rhythm then enshrined
Down in the depths unmoving).

Around them wound a breeze sublime,
For as their dance the Sprite refined
The winds of summer from the brine 
Arose, and wandered over. 

(How good, to see the season free!
And to the forest not confined.)

And though it was not quite the dance
Of winter’s end, 
Nor spring’s advent,
The forest fairy watched, entranced
As beauty they created.

A final, glorious, upward surge
At last ended their dance submerged,
And from the water they emerged
With songs of glee and joy.

“Oh, thank you, Fairy!”
“Thank you, Sprite!”
“For now we’ll pass those lonely nights
With dancing that’s so strong and bright
It may outshine the stars!”

And then, taking the fairy’s raft
(How long endured her handicraft!)
Away to pillar’d city vast
They pulled their newfound friend.

Atop their rocks above the sea
They sat her with great courtesy,
And taught her then a harmony
That could ensnare the world.

(For songs of war get no encore
And loneliness no passion stores,
To win the hearts of those onshore
A song of love must sound.)

From her lips, made fin’lly real,
A song she need not sneak or steal,
And to the forest would appeal— 
[i]They could not shun a love song![/i]

The fairy poured all of her thanks,
(So deeply from their art she drank!)
And turned she then her tiny plank
Toward her distant home. 


[hr]


With head held high
Noble and proud, 
And nose lifted
To distant cloud,
She sang so strong 
And fierce and proud,
That all the world took notice.

The waves fell silent in her path,
As songs she sang did then entrap
Both loneliness and mighty wrath
That waves and ocean fostered.

Across the quiet wat’ry fields,
Her song of passion now revealed—
And in her wake the waves did yield
That beautif’lly she sang.

Upon the shore she touched once more
And called upon some seagulls four.
“Oh winged friends, I do implore:
You’ll to the forest take me?”
 
The birds fell quiet at the sound
Of sea-song ringing all around,
And caref’lly, gently, from the ground
To cliff-top she they carried.

Through the shadows,
Through the trees,
Through frozen oak 
Untouched by spring,
With song of love now wavering
Before her, walked the sprite. 

At last her brethren heard her call
Echoing through the spaces tall
“Oh, could it be? That after all
This time, you’re back for Spring-step?”

Heard they then the music sweet
That wintered ears with kindness meet.
Her journey she did then repeat,
Triumphantly recounting.



Suspicious eyes did trail her through
The months in which her story true
Did not receive what it was due—
Her song still gathered frowning.

This scorn the sprite hadn’t foreseen.
How could they wrong her song decree?
But still with her they disagreed:
Fairies should only dance.



After years of judging eyes
And whispering her lullabies ,
The Fairy said her last goodbyes
And into shadows ventured.

(For upon soft sky-painted sea
Remained her home and heart.)

Spread her wings she did, and fly
In wake of bird and butterfly,
To find another place nearby
Where she could sing of life.



She wandered for eternity,
But found a lake with waters clean
That stretched on out as wide and free 
As voices in the sky.