Magic is My Reward / The Vampire and The Fae by Linda M. Crate

magic is my reward

i am happy to say

you no longer haunt me,

whatever enchantment you

cast over my heart has

finally died;

autumn has come and i have

shed every leaf that carried your name—

there are no curling fingers

of desire or pain from the unrequited

love i gave you that you took advantage of,

just wild things whispering in the wood willing

to devour you should you ever think of coming

back to my cottage in the wood because 

i have finally accepted i am the witch not the princess,

and magic is my reward for leaving you.

the vampire and the fae

all these years later,

your name gives me pause;

for you are the faerie

that enchanted my heart when 

i thought the dreaming was dead—

and i am sorry i wounded you

with the talons of my temper,

i didn't know how to tell you 

that i loved you or if i even should;

you saw me as a sister and you always

had someone else to hold—

but i've had dreams where we're

holding hands in sunflower fields,

shining brighter than the sun;

wives unashamed: the vampire and the fae

shimmering for all eternity.

Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian writer born in Pittsburgh raised in the rural town of Conneautville. In addition to writing her favorite things are: nature (especially flowers, trees, and bodies of water), books, music, anime, and crime shows.