The Last Great Fairy Kingdom

Anemic pixels

blur into

fallow retinas.

Healthy light struggles

through my blinds,5

greening in the dust.

My friends seem to me

as flickers

of text on a screen,

but the only noise10

registered:

mechanical hum.

The Day vanishes.

I ignore

her yearning goodbye15

as Night calls to me.

I ignore

her yearning hello.

The stars wheel around

Polaris,20

following the Bear

as she stumbles from

the dragon’s

muscled, hairy jaws.

My power flickers,25

leaving me

quiet solitude,

and still I ignore—

enamored

by my deadened screen.30

Time moves like the ink

on a note

forgotten in dew.

Hours blur to seconds.

Seconds, days.35

Then I awaken.

I stand. My rusted

bones complain.

I lose my balance,

but I catch myself40

on the plant

I took from the street.

Its leaves are browning

from neglect

but its thick stem stands.45