Butter Fairies

Butter Fairies

For Meredith Boe

Look.
Like tiny thin
idle old men
they lurk in
your azaleas,
almost
too weak to lift
their little lanterns,
or raise their petite
grappling hooks
above their hoods
with hollow hopes:
today is their kind's
resurrection.

No one knows
how many
they are who crave
fresh creamy dairy
daily, no one
fears them climbing
in and swiping
anything.
Each time their
appetites labor,
it makes them more
humble creatures.
They all feel
it's quite queer
more people
should mean
butter's loss..

Some have asked,
"Do birds have
trouble finding worms?
Can mice find meals?"
Few remember
the long ago days
when what they wished
was placed at the doorstep
to snatch
without question.
They just keep
lingering in
your azaleas,
wondering
if they'll ever be
believed in again.