Fairy Tale

alright: once upon a time,

a girl in a cloak of symbolic colouration

meets a magpie on the road.

like, a big fucking magpie.

and this magpie says: can you help me?

and the girl says: no, I’m sorry.

and the magpie pecks out her eye.

the left one, I think.

I don’t actually remember that well.

and the girl says: why did you peck out

my eye, magpie?

and the magpie says: fairy tales formally feature

insufficient details to impart one specific viable

meaning and are instead cultural constructions

onto which developing minds can project anxieties

and sexual confusion without any explicit

engagement from responsible adult figures.

and the girl’s like: oh, shit