Thank you to Jim Lewis of Verse-Virtual for publishing my poem today in the September issue.

http://www.verse-virtual.org/2020/september/imbler-linda-2020-september.html




Fairy Tales Exposed

I see,
even with
eyes closed in sleep,
dishonesty.
When the vow
to love is taken,
within the beauty of a kiss,
our poetry becomes visible.
He or me,
the cooing partner,
easing us into the territory
of the heart, not to be lost.
The verdict of truth should speak
with great care and exactitude
from our caring lips,
but deep sleep can teach 
that elapsed time
does not always work in
our favor.  Therefore, listening to
tales from either emperors
or mendicants 
sometimes exposes the
varied shapes of fairy tales -
and I will lose all, 
if I only believe 
in the merits of fantasy,
and not its deficits.