Towns That Trigger
There are places where it’s not safe to walk
After dark
When you’ve had too much
or not enough
to drink
In the fluorescent landscape of your dreams
(Ever, in any state of being)
The memory of escape is hazy,
(breaking down bones so you could slide out through the cracks)
leaving behind a year’s worth of reminders, including
Apologies written on crumpled napkins
Stories that contain the words
safe, home, we,
or fruit fly
One pillow, one blanket, two sheets
A mind filled with something
other than broken glass.
Too Late or not at All
The polar bear said, “Are you frightened?”
No, she wasn’t.
There was no road to the castle.
“You’ll get there either too late or never at all.”
Yes, that could very well be true.
He was so wild and furious.
“I once blew an aspen leaf there…
…if you’re not afraid to go with me.”
She was not afraid, no matter what bad things might happen.
They went far,
so far that no one would believe
how far they went.
“Are you frightened?” said the North Wind.
“No,” she said, she wasn’t.
All lines drawn directly from Tiina Nunnally’s translation of the Asbjørnsen & Moe telling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.”
Hailey Spencer is a Seattle-based poet with a BA in English from Seattle University. She is the creator of three webseries with the independent production company Arsenic Martini Productions. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies. She loves fairy tales and has a tattoo of Baba Yaga’s house on her calf. www.haileyspencerwrites.com