Realm

Tell me, please, where do you dwell?

Is it between soundbites and currency

struggling to find your place, your very breath

at the edges of the life you were meant to live?

Is it between the messy earthly imperfection

and heavenly crystalline perfection just out of reach

or do you dwell in between 

the inhalations of your child, each breath a reminder

that time is slipping by much too fast?

As for me, I dwell in the fairy-tale pages of books,

where the printed words are often faded

or missing altogether, the corners turned down

to mark a special place.

I walk the borders of my land there,

the edge of my gown damp from the cold winter ground,

my home, a ruined keep, a dark smudge against the grey sky.

The hawks have fled this place

and there are rumors that a golden dragon has begun to stir.

It’s time to put away the pretty gowns

and don the tarnished armor I dropped so carelessly long ago,

this is where I dwell, in this realm of words and lines,

a place worth fighting for.

Tell me, please, where do you dwell?

A modern day castle (secret passages and all!), Casa Loma, located in the heart of Toronto, Ontario.