For Ann Tabor

If they caught us
In nets, in lies,
If they dared,
The first question
Would be

Of species.
“Why a creature so small,
So unassuming?
You could be clawed, fatal,
Sharp-toothed?”

If they caught us
(Which they won’t)
We might tell them they
Lack subtlety,
Nuance, liminality.

How could they
Understand the power –
Hope – concealed in
Soft fur, bunched legs,
Eyes of madness and music or

How the moon favors
The smallest, the sleekest of
Creatures, shields us with its
Light and shelters us in its
Shadows on a terrain

They’ll never see.

[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, Liminality, Star*Line, and others.]