Unheeded Warnings



Seven large mushrooms found in a ring,
surely are but a sign of spring.

Six black crows on the east garden gate,
dark wings and shrill calls to taunt and berate.

Five tablespoons of milk left out on the stoop,
container is empty when Cock crows from his coop.

Four white stones round the dooryard are found,
their faces do sprout from half out of the ground.

Three horse manes are tangled in knots tight and thick,
braided with briers which sting and will prick.

Two red ribbons tied to the old Hawthorn tree,
their arms dancing freely for all eyes to see.

One child by morning away from his bed,
replaced by a changeling of sticks and of thread.



AN: Growing up I was never under the illusion that Fairies were kind creatures. Their tricky and sometimes evil nature was often the themes of bedtime stories and books my mother used to read to me. The fairies coming and snatching me away was a fear I often had as a child while laying awake during the short summer nights, and the warnings above were ones I was constantly on the lookout for. Ah the delicious innocence of childhood.