Witches Broom and Fairy Rings

by Elizabeth McCarthy

like children lost in the dark forest

we who are old wander an unfamiliar path

where nature leaves her clues

for us to doubt and wonder

if we ever knew reality

now that light is fading

and shadows cloak us in chill

when earth places before us

a witches broom and fairy ring

shall we join the dancing spirits 

and play upon the myth,

vanish to the otherworld

where life and time suspends

or wait and watch the poison mushrooms die

as possessed twigs and branches break and fly

[Elizabeth McCarthy lives in Walden.]