THE FOREST


I walked in the garden
To pick a rose
White, yellow and red
The odor sweet and fresh

It seems a shame
To take one with me
Nature has provided well
These flowers

Still they will bring a smile
One thing of beauty for another
A humming bird
The impossible flight

Flying still in the air
How to capture this
Blue belly
Wings in constant motion

I look even closer
And wonder of fairies
What a dream
Can make real

If I met one
What would she tell me
She might say
All the reality I know is false

The mathematics I have studied
Has been a rouse
One designed without magic
To deceive my senses

Are there fairies
Can I let go
Long enough to see them
Is my reality so concrete

I hear a whisper in my ear
A buzzing so soft
I turn to look
And bump my nose

She flies a few inches away
My eyes grow large in amazement
What is this
I blink several times

Tiny legs hanging loose
Wings flapping at a fast rate
A little head so delicate
Is she singing

She begins to fly around my head
I feel a bit dizzy
Trying to grasp
To hang on to reality

Yet this is happening
I see her
She stops in front of me again
A voice so tiny I strain to listen

She tells me of the old ones
I am perplexed
What old ones
Not believing that I had spoken

She tells me to follow her
And flies through the roses
Scientific curiosity
I must find out

She flies not with the grace of a bird
It�s like gravity does not exist
But then is any of this happening
I think to myself old ones a little bemused

She stops and looks hard at me
Startled I ask her to please continue
I think she smiled
Such a small face

What color are her eyes
Does she have teeth
Would she bite me
A sharp turn then she dives

I realize she is coming at me
I duck but to late
Yes she bites
And her teeth are very sharp

After we have walked for some time
I duck under a tree
She says in whisper
They are green the color of the forest

I stare at her blankly
Then she say with a laugh
My eyes silly man
She must be reading my thoughts

Once through the trees
A world opens up
There are hundreds of them
Fairies everywhere

In the trees
Flying all about
And there on the ground
A castle of mud and twigs

Where am I
To where have I come
She answers of course
This time a slight smugness

This is my home
We live here
Separate from man
And his disbelief�s

Our home is that of
Dreams and magic
I don�t believe in magic
And dreams are not real

Come the old ones await
She flies to the base of the castle
I bend down to one knee
And see a group of three

The leader or I assume the leader
Speaks in a bellowing voice
We have brought you here
To begin the rejoining

Thousands of years ago
Man and we lived together
In harmony combining our wisdom�s
Then man began to struggle

First among each other
Then to the forest creatures
There was a long war
Much was lost

Man became blind to magic
And the wisdom of the earth
We went into hiding
But now is the coming of a new age

All around the world
We are coming out gathering
Those who are ready
Mostly children they are the most open

I ask why have you chosen me
Because you are the most skeptical
You have hidden yourself away in numbers
And equations but you search for truth

Touch me and feel that I am real
I do and he is as soft as a rose pedal
Yes I see you are real
But this is a dream

It is time for us to be together
Sit over there
And listen
The truth will be your guide

I hear his words
It is a long story
One of love and hatred
The losing of memory

Then he tells me the time is near
You must leave us
Tell others what you have learned here
We leave the future in your hands and mind

I get up to leave
And walk out of the forest
I turn to look back
And see the green of trees nothing more

Has this been a dream
Have I lost my mind
To think I talked to fairies
But then again wouldn�t it be wonderful


Michael V Hechtman