ONCE UPON THIS TIME AGAIN

The roads, all the roads

the main / the back
the broad / the narrow
the crowded / the silent
the clean / the dirty
the noisy / the quiet
the cobbled / the unpaved
the lit / the dark
the familiar, and those you'd never seen before

And the ways, all the ways you traveled them

in seven-league boots
in iron shoes
doing impossible tasks
whistling a merry tune
repeating magic phrases times three, seven, six
riding on the back of an eagle or the tail of a fox
wearing the invisible cape or the emperor's clothes

And still, as fate would have it – or luck, or whatever you call it –
that slice of watermelon remains out of reach