there are lies in every fairy tale
secrets in every spoon
and both usually stay well hidden
from the time for breakfast
and the hour of bedtime stories

but there is a place
within the telling of dreams
that an old wise witch
of strange young beauty who
will read your fate
with only words of truth
that she stirs out of a soup
made out of the alphabet
of the comfortable lonely sky

she'll feed you slowly
with the spoon
of her mothers grandmothers mother
that has been handed down
from the first star ever born
to the last name
of the last god
yet to be named
or prayed to
and in that instant
you will know every secret
and detect every lie ever told

you will be a new babe
and an old man
and a young girl
stealing her first kiss
from a shy boy

you will be both
a nymph, a snail
and the leaf that feed you both

you will be
the last tree on earth
the first flower
to bloom on jupiter

the death of mars
and the heartache of venus

you will know
who made you first
learning that that knowledge
is negligible when compared to
the virtues of loves
true heart and reason

the witch will close your hand
and seal it with a stolen kiss
and smile and laugh and giggle
and give you a knowing grin
and you will understand
why spoons keep secrets
and the importance of lies
that hide in fairy tales