Wild Woman Goes for Tea

There is a dangerous old woman

who lives in the forest.

Her house is whittled inside a tree trunk,

and her music is the rainfall on the leaves.

"Whu-hoo", says the owl 

on the cobbled doorstep,

blinking her yellow eyes

and rustling her feathers.

"To enter, you must have passed 

sixty years of seasons.

The map of your life

must be drawn upon your face,

and your eyes droop with 

 sadness and the memory

of your journey.

Yes. You are

sad enough and wise enough

 to pass."

I enter and, within, the fire is blazing.

A grizzled white-haired crone bends

to pour my tea.

"And what are you wondering?

What question brings you here?"

she asks,

dipping a dainty finger

in her teacup

and stirring.

"What do I have to do,

to have my dwelling in a tree?"

"Grow back your clipped wings,

and remember how to fly."