once upon a time

This is not the end of the story.
the story has no end,
just the seasons passing,
one continual round.

once upon a time,
long ago (just yesterday)
and far away, (two doors down) when
the earth was newer (and older)
a woman loved.

and he was strong and brave
and handsome, and drove a pure white steed,
(like any good knight)
and drove around the neighborhood
looking for damsels in distress.

and when he came the damsels were distressed,
screaming and carrying on
that they’d lost their shoes
or sold their kisses to a frog,
or fallen down a hill
and he’d help them for a kiss and a wink,

so, one day (yesterday/tomorrow—
maybe the day after that)
she saw him coming
and let down her hair
and let up her skirt,
so her legs showed best—
and he loved her (for a moment).
but duty called,
and he drove away on his pure white steed.

and the woman had a mother,
who said: your father was just like that—
and the woman grew a daughter and told her,
never love a knight on a pure white steed.
but the daughter loved and
and her daughter loved.
and they loved more ever after.

and the seasons changed
and the world grew young again,
without beginning, without end—
This is not the end of the story.

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