Put not your trust in faeries, say the mothers to the young,
For Fae may speak the words of men, but in a stranger tongue.
And those who heed their promises may come to great regret,
And some who danced long years ago have never come home yet.
Though I was raised to honest work and labor in the field,
It only took a moment for my better sense to yield
When once I saw the pretty sprites that had a spell to weave
From moonbeams twined with donkey’s mane; they called to me to leave
My field for the forest where the handsome Faerie King
Had set a golden banquet and my presence was the thing
That they were only lacking! So befuddled, I gave in,
And ran into the woods to join the feast in forest glen.

Heard I then the cry of Fae,
Pulled me this, then that-a-way,
Left my wits there in the hay,
They spoke so strong!

There came along the road just then the Heralds of our Queen,
And to Her Royal Glory they made certain to be seen.
So proud and dressed ornately they, in scarlet and and in gold,
Announced a coming holiday with trumpets true and bold.
How happy that they chose that route, for as I walked awry,
And slender arms reached out to pull me far beyond the sky,
I heard the horns and stopped as human feelings touched my breast,
And flinched from clever coaxings that a selkie might suggest.
I turned aside in anguish with my heart caught on a pole,
As then the strident trumpets lent their strength unto my soul.
I fled from weirded forest ‘til my feet met firmer ground
And thanked I all the powers for the blessing of their sound!

Torn by what I could not say,
Seeking out where spirits play,
I'd have left the world that day–