My Midnight Prince

“Once upon a time”, you might say,
(If you feel the need to start a tale that way),
There was a prince in a castle – far, far away
who visited my dreams day after day.

This prince.. he was charming – that much is true.
But his heart, oh his heart, was always so blue.
The darkness of his eyes, no matter the view,
Was softened by a sadness I couldn’t undo.

This prince, he was handsome- that’s certainly right…
But his whispers of love in my ear every night
Were tainted with a sorrow from some historical plight.
Some painful, some bloody, tumultuous fight.

And in my dreams, I’d kiss and wipe around his eyes.
I’d caress his hand, and sing sweet lullabies
For beneath that handsome, charming disguise-
My prince was a boy scared of the skies.

He looked so sweet, when he’d lie at my breast-
I’d feed him kind words as he’d nuzzle my chest-
This sweet, sweet little boy who was trying his best.
This soldiering prince, begging to rest.

curious, one night, of the clouds in his eyes,
I’d asked him, with kindness, if there was compromise.
He took both my hands to his cheek, and he cried:
“My darling, my princess, my damsel, my prize”

He told me of his life outside of his dreams,
With a woman, his wife, and of echoing screams-
His halls were filled with rage, their hearts- with grief
His home was a home devoid of relief.

He told me of his quest to find what they’d lost-
To speak to her heart, no matter the cost.
Of the spells, of the charms, of the deepened exhaust-
He’d worked to the bone to fix what they’d lost.

And his eyes filled with tears, as he took my lips to his own,
He asked, with such sadness, if he’d finally won.
In that moment he vanished, and I sat there- alone
My heartbeat was loud, and I ached to the bone.

I felt something tugging, pulling my thought
Begging to be seen, to be heard, to be sought.
And I reached toward the darkness for this thing I’d forgot,
But it slipped from my grasp- whatever I’d lost.


The sun warmed our skin, as we both woke from our nap
There- I saw my prince, my husband, and wept.
I touched at his arm, and kissed at his neck.
His hand met my own, and squeezed gently back.

I turned in my bed, to the man I’d forgotten
Lost in my dreams, my heart had gone rotten.
My prince, my soldier, lied there in his coffin
Of linens, and sheets, and a wife who had lost him.