Fairy Story

once upon a time

there lived a great brooding rock of a man
who cracked when he rolled down a slope
to reach the valley of water below his desert origin 

there lived a horseboy named skull
who drank and leaked through his open bones
all the way round his course

there lived a sheepgirl on fire
grateful to be warm
even as she bubbled and screamed 

we felt better about ourselves
because they were self-sacrificial
or something mythical like that

we asked them carefully
if they understood the words
happily ever after

that’s the wrong language for me
each of them said in turn
they all lived a bit more then hollered and died

we use stories about them
to be happy
now and then and ever after