Fairy Tale

Steven Outram, "Unseen"

Fairy Tale

He built himself a house
              his foundations,
              his stones,
              his walls,
              his roof overhead,
              his chimney and smoke,
              his view from the window.

He made himself a garden,
                his fence,
                his thyme,
                his earthworm,
                his evening dew.

He cut out his bit of sky above.

And he wrapped the garden in the sky
and the house in the garden
and packed the lot in a handkerchief
and went off
lone as an arctic fox
through the cold
unending
rain
into the world.

Miroslav Holub (trans George Theiner)

I love this idea, that you can just wrap up all your best-beloved things and memories and dreams and take them with you wherever you go. Not merely that you don't have to abandon them, but also that they are a source of warmth and companionship in a world that is not so friendly. And though it seems fairy-tale-like, it isn't really. The things you believe in, the good you've experienced, the hopes you treasure - these are most definitely companions to us wherever we go and whatever places we leave behind.