Reader

I have made love with fairies
Downed cupfuls of desire until drunk
Duelled with the fiercest of wizards
and brushed the eyelashes of a baby.

I have treaded the windswept moors
looking for my soul
Lazed for hours in Kipling’s India
Had my breath restricted by a corset.

I have clasped the silky fur of a polar bear
as it carried me on its back
Plucked the strings of a lute for an audience
and gorged myself on fettuccine in Rome.

I have run with the pack
Hunted
Crunched down on bones and blood
and warmed my paws by a campfire.

I have mourned
Had my heart splinter,
Flinched from the crack of grief.

I have known silence.

I have lead armies
Wore mud until it crusted
Crossed the river to death and
emerged, alive.

I have flown on the backs of dragons
and marvelled at the phosphorescence of their scales
Had rocks thrown at me
because of the colour of my skin.

I have tasted teaspoons of wisdom
and let them ooze across my tongue
Awoken in a forest
and blinked the dew from my eyes.

I have cut windows through worlds
Inhaled the scents of peonies and tulips
Sweated under the sun of ancient Egypt
until my tunic clung to my back.

I have fallen into rabbit holes
of wild, endless love
And laughed with the zest
of a thousand lemons.

I have had people tell me
such experiences aren’t true
Because they have happened inside my head;
But I say they are all the richer for it.