Tam Lin's Thoughts After the Last Chord
by Anna Renz
Sometimes -- now, he would deny it --Tam remembers life
under hill, life before, without Janet
and the baby sleeping
in his arms. He can remember
days that were really
years in that great timeless hall
when he harped and sang
for a thousand, when he played
a reel and feet tapped, hooves
clapped, wings flapped in the Fairy court's
whirl of color as they all rose to
dance, or the unearthly, too earthy
silence of the dim night
when they slept, and he blew notes
about them. But mostly he
remembers the Queen of the Fairies, who
took him for her own, who still
lives in his mind as she lives under hill.
She had silver hung in her hair
that night, and she hangs in his thoughts --
the pale of her breast bone beneath
the fur collar slipping down seems almost
more real than Janet in her
green girdle, Janet in the garden,
staunch Janet with steadfast
arms around him --
Only Janet, he tells himself, is real
Anna Geneva Renz is a homeschooled writer from Massachusetts. She devours any book set before her, but would prefer mangoes, and is currently fearing what college will do to her reading schedule. This is her first publication of any kind.
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