Prince Charming declares his
death a hoax
as he wanders among purple
tulips in a dark green field
while his cousin, Narcissus,
wakes in a cave far underground.
Narcissus refuses to look at
himself now
as he puts his wings on
backwards
in a darkened corner.
He has not forgotten how
everything
once bloomed in the world
above him,
before the fall,
before he descended
into the borderless region
at the water's edge.
He does not speak.
He lost his voice long ago
in the void.
Later he will paint stars on
the ceiling by candlelight
and imagine ocean waves
and billowing sails
and harbors filled with
faces other than his own.
