There are castles, high and grand.
There are towers,, which stand on clouds,
Fog and air, cold and wet, sweet breeze, sour rays.
The hearths of knights and maidens fair.
They bring the stars down on earth;
They strum the night with voices high;
They fill the skies with uttered hope.
But in the hills, there breathe the witches.
On some days, old. On some days, young.
They hoot like owls and ride their sticks,
Like dappled rainbows, pass the moon.
While maidens sing, the witches snort.
While knights hunt, the witches slay.
They live on fear and not on glee.
They bathe on tears and feed on gloom.
Vile, they say, vile and banished.
But forgotten, I always bawl.
One fainted night, while red flames flare,
Not failing the heavens like swirling bones,
While roaches march on grey, tan dirt,
The witches dance, their broomsticks tap.
In one crooked wood, there sat one witch,
Pale and brittle, her eyes are black, her lips so red.
She freed one sigh and looked beyond.
Down! Away! Where the princess chant.
Oh, how she wanted to flee from dark!
Oh, how she wished to see moist grass!
This witch was called the bleak, weak witch.
She wishes on stars and drinks not mire.
Her black eyes wish to see blue skies,
No more grey, she always says.
The witch’s name, they didn’t know, they dare not ask,
For those black eyes rein the grass,
The swamps, the ants and the blue, white fire.
She was a princess, herself, she was.
She ruled the hills and the under lives.
Yet they did not know,
She need not rule,
She need not want to fly and slay.