Alchemy of Faerie Godmothers

Meticulously measuring promises and wishes,
Mixing equal parts moondust and cinders
Into translucent vessels, the acidic properties of rebellion
Turning the composition silver-blue.
Perfect for ball gowns and midnight skies.

Flasks of resolve and determination,
Vials of longing, solvents and solutions.
Undiluted drops of hope
Wrung from the words of dying mothers,
Their chief reagent for enchantment.

Spells on laboratory shelves,
Formulas for the chemical precipitation of tears
And the distillation of dreams. The precise properties
Of illusion and glamour listed in invisible ink,
Their viscosities unknown.

Incantations for decanting anger,
Extracting its righteousness to neutralize anguish.
Recipes for retrieving the sludge and sediment of suffering,
For calculating the mass of pumpkins, and
The density of spirit.
For calibrating slippers of glass and
Determining the weight of happily ever afters.

Deborah Sage lives in Louisville, KY. She has been published in Eternal Haunted Summer, Fairy Tale Magazine, the 2022 Dwarf Stars Anthology, Amethyst Press All Shall Be Well anthology for Julian of Norwich, Eye to the Telescope, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, and Ephemeral Elegies among others.

Find more by Deborah Sage in the Author Index.