Once and Now

ONCE upon a time
is a fairy tale
that grew up to become
as long as I can.

Magic doesn't fall from stars,
sprinkling solutions
like twilight's pixie dust,
conjuring night.

Night must be enough
happily ever after
because it absents the day,
because we are grateful
for hours that skirt
the edge of memory,
because night is neverland,
knitting a cloak of quiet
against uncertainty.

ONCE upon a time
is fiction.
We wake to real days,
carry care like eggs.

As long as I can
is not happily ever after.
I lay my burden somewhere
between frayed seams of storm
and the again of waking sun,
without spells or charms,
only promise.