After she left,
We kept her room
Tidied  

The silver bouquets of forks, 
Her statuary garden
Polished.

After she left,
Her name was
Buried.

The melody of her,
Her gentle, longing song
Untended.

Our father’s eyes,
Cold, angry, lost — 
Betrayed.

Our grandmother’s memories,
Lonely, echoing, narrow — 
Decayed.

Except for how
Her bed of anemones still
Whispered

To us and each other
And how her eels
Shimmered

Round our wrists 
And foreheads,
Crowned 

Us in her colors:
Turquoise, lavender, blood
Red

The knife
She wouldn’t use
Planted

In the center 
Of her garden
Blooming.

[Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman are award-winning folklorists, teachers, and writers. Together, they founded The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, teaching creative souls how to re-enchant their lives through folklore and fairy tales. Their fiction and poetry can be found in Enchanted Living, Uncanny Magazine, Apex Magazine, Star*Line, and others.]