Elizabeth
Howard, US
Aunt
Ella had a big book of fairy tales
with bright-colored pictures.
When Violet visited her, she begged
her to read story after story.
At last, she taught Violet to read,
beginning with once upon a time.
Soon Violet could read all the words
in the magical book. In fact,
she knew most of the stories by heart.
One of her favorites was the princess
and the wild swans, all her stillborn
brothers. She even had a notion
of making nettle shirts, but a handful
of stinging nettles brought her
back to pretend. She inhabited
a rosy world of my own making,
fairy tales the only disasters she knew.
