I Know Where the Unicorn Flies

Author’s Note: Do not adjust your monitor. You have read the date correctly. This unicorn obsession of mine goes WAY BACK, love. This is five-year-old-mini-and-wee-Ally dictating unicorn poetry to her mother. It’s short. It’s sweet. It’s actually pretty good poetry considering the author was five. In addition to being evidence of the longevity of my unicorn obsession, it’s also my oldest piece of writing. In honor of 100 posts on Instagram, I give you a child’s unicorn poetry.

I know where the unicorn flies

I know where she dances, glides

I know where her foot steps lightly

I know where the unicorn flies

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While I Was Sleeping

Author’s Note: I wrote these song lyrics in 2015 about a long-term crush I’d had that I wanted to be rid of. I’m long since over it, but I still love the lyrics I wrote. I think there are many others who can relate to the feelings so I’m sharing it now.

You were here while I was sleeping,

In the depths of my mind,

Where all the secrets I’ve been keeping,

Are all I come to find,

Where once upon a time we danced,

With open hearts and woven hands,

Until I woke to dawn’s cold bitter light.

I don’t want to dream about you anymore,

This is the last my soul can take,

I don’t want to wish on any more shooting stars,

They fall so far,

And I reach until I break.

I’ve only ever fallen in love with shadows,

And chased whispers into heartache,

I don’t want to dream about you anymore,

You will never be with me when I wake.

I’ve worn a ballgown made of silver white light,

And a veil that trailed across the aisle and into the sky,

I’ve said I love, I will, I do, for all of time,

But only at night.

In the quiet breaths between who I am,

And what I wish inside,

I don’t want to dream about you anymore,

This is the last my soul can take,

I don’t want to wish on anymore shooting stars,

They fall so far,

And I reach until I break.

I’ve only ever fallen in love with shadows,

And chased whispers into heartache,

I don’t want to dream about you anymore,

You will never be with me when I wake.

Reality is where the sunset’s reflected in your eyes,

On picturesque painting that make me cry,

It was everything I ever wanted,

Everything I’d ever wished that it would be,

It was all for real.

Just not for me.

I don’t want to dream about you anymore,

This is the last my soul can take,

I don’t want to wish on anymore shooting stars,

They fall so far,

And I reach until I break.

I’ve only ever fallen in love with shadows,

And chased whispers into heartache,

I don’t want to dream about you anymore,

You will never be with me when I wake.

AllyLeave a comment

I Am From Poem

Author’s Note: This is my response to a common poetry prompt. When I was writing it, I was thinking about the things that made up the foundation of my childhood and what I still carry into adulthood. I wrote it just as an exercise but I was so proud of it that I wanted to share it. I hope you enjoy.

I am from fairy gardens constructed

with twigs and daffodil petals

sprinkled with the little round rocks

that were under the tire swing

where the other children would not let me play

because at three years old I wore glasses

I am from words on yellowed paper

read aloud by the glow

of the unicorn night light

magic worlds and lantern waste

that I carried close to my heart

even as all plunged into winter

I am from composition notebooks

that left graphite smudges on my eager hands

as I drew space cadets and superheroes

that traversed the galaxies inside my mind

and the pages I filled as I chicken-pecked

every key my fingers could reach

I am from the hymns sung every morning

verses forever engraved as melodies

that spring to my lips the moment

I hear the first note in the pastor’s sermon

and I can still play that holy book’s sonnets

reflect them back as the sun goes out

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Fairytale Princess

Song lyrics first written August 24th, 2012

Author’s Note: I wrote these lyrics while I was in intensive outpatient care for my first major depressive episode. It was my way of comforting myself, reminding myself that even the stories with the happiest of endings can be full of hardship and trial. Even though I felt like I had died, I held the promise of a full resurrection. I’ve been writing song lyrics to comfort myself since I was twelve, but to date this is the project I am most proud of and that feels the most personal. I hope you enjoy.

I am a fairytale princess

Trapped at the top of a stairless tower

My heart is wasted with my aguish

I fell prey to the curse’s power

I lost who I was meant to be

And there is no one coming to save me

Wrap me in chains and leave me to die

I will emerge like a butterfly

Tonight

I am

A fairytale princess

One day

I stand

Crowned upon my throne

I fight a war

It will be won

I have a kingdom

It will come

I am a fairytale princess

Lying in a coffin made of glass

The clock struck midnight while I waited

And it seems I’ve breathed my last

I ate the apple that poisoned my lips

And I’ve lost all hope of true love’s kiss

Prick my finger and lay me to sleep

This one last promise I will keep

Tonight

I am

A fairytale princess

One day

I stand

Crowned upon my throne

I fight a war

It will be won

I have a kingdom

It will come

In the real world

I’m just a girl

Swept away by the waves of agony

Lost in bleak reality

Slit my wrists and cried my hate

To the cruel twists and turns of fate

For the wishes I’d made

The dreams I’d obeyed

Stared in the mirror and despised my own face

Tore myself to pieces

To erase me without a trace

But today I’m still alive

Somehow I’ve survived

Locked in my tower

The curse losing its power

Rising from the deep

I awaken from my sleep

Maybe I’m naïve

Maybe I’m a silly little girl who just pretends

But I know

Yes, I know

How this story ends

Tonight

I am

A fairytale princess

One day

I stand

Crowned upon my throne

I fight a war

It will be won

I have a kingdom

It will come

AllyLeave a comment