Sleeping Beauty/Sparrow/Black Black
by Dan Sicoli
she rests
on a white pillow of raven feathers
and waits
her long black hair
trailing over the side
of her bed
a forbidden waterfall
bare shoulder
catching a chill
deep, she is under
an ancient drumming
carried by wind
from which
a truth will arrive
from the long darkness
a reminder of the new betrayal
upon waking she’ll
birth
a princess on fresh feathers
she will decorate her
in the color of shadow
honoring the new hope
and old despair
for the men of the house
from an early age
this child will smile
like a scavenger crow diving
into solar flares
of a distant night sun