The Encantada by Christina M. Rau

All the little ones from the village

entrance themselves by the dark

opening, its possibilities of sanctity.

Without a torch, deeper into earth

where shade lives strongest

all things suddenly turn transparent

bright

white

light

all the rainbow

all at once:

One luminous fairy

her face the stars

Their bodies blind in the glow

She combs her hair

They watch

She combs her hair

They watch

A brilliance grows

with heat and the mundane.

Sparking swirls of indigo

a spiral of mint and pink

the flash dims flickers fizzles

And then.

It ends.

And the children go back down the woodland path.

They stumble over the same stones they navigated before.

They nestle back into their blankets

save for one empty bed.

Bio

Christina M. Rau, The Yoga Poet, is a published poet as well as a certified yoga instructor and reiki practitioner. Her collections include How We Make Amends, What We Do To Make Us Whole, and the Elgin Award-winning Liberating The Astronauts. She moderates the Women’s Poetry Listserv and has served as Poet in Residence for Oceanside Library (NY) since 2020. Her poetry airs on Destinies radio show (WUSB) and appears in various literary journals like fillingStation and The Disappointed Housewife while her prose has appeared in Punk Monk Magazine and Reader’s Digest. She teaches a weekly yoga class at a local studio along with leading Meditate, Move, & Create workshops in person and online for arts councils, libraries, and other organizations. During her downtime, she watches the Game Show Network.

Author's note

Several years ago, I researched world folk lore for a collection, and I came across the Spanish tale of the encantada. A fairy mesmerizes little children and steals them according to the version I read. This fairy also appears as a bewitched woman or several women in similar tales from other cultures.