Grimm's Fairy Tales

I make a bargain with the magician
even though the risks are high.
The cogs and gears of magic
are not built with tolerence for failure.
Although I try
I may trip and be delayed
just as the moon turns red
or in my muddle
may hear the wrong words revealed
when I would be safe only in ignorance.

In these murky days,
the woods wriggling with penalties,
voices calling from churches
and tombs, it's very cold.
Even love doesn't warm me.
My neighbors drift
from shape to shape,
ugly and human.
I can make an error and
write a formula for curses.