Poem: "Where Moonlight Would Not Wait"

By Jordyn Mastroff

(A Ballad of the Elf and the Fae)

Beneath the boughs of Ash and Thorn,

Where twilight weaves through ancient stone,

An elven prince with starlit gaze

Once loved a fae not meant to own.

They met when dusk first kissed the glade,

Where foxglove bowed and briar grew,

The fae was wild as storm and flame,

And smiled like something gods once knew.

He sang in tongues the earth forgot,

With laughter soft as summer rain,

And danced through rings the world had lost,

Unchained by love, untouched by pain.

The elf, all grace and grief and gold,

Offered his name, his sword, his trust.

The fae just touched his hand and said,

"To love me is to lose the dust."

But still they met, through veil and vow,

In silent groves no path could find.

They carved their joy in bark and breath,

And left their sorrow locked in time.

Yet Beltane came with fire and thorns,

The tide of Faefolk rose once more.

The fae stood still at morning's edge,

One foot ashore, one in the lore.

The elf said, “Stay.” The fae said, “No.”

“I cannot bleed the world for you.”

And in his eyes, the dusk took root,

A shade the elf forever knew.

No promise passed between their lips,

No ring was cast, no vows were kept.

Just one last touch, then he was gone,

And all the forest held its breath.

Now in the glen the elf still waits,

With hollow eyes and voice grown thin,

His song a thread the wind forgets,

A loss the stars won't speak again.

And some say when the fire blooms bright,

And fae-lights flicker on the sea,

A shadow lingers near the trees,

The shape of who will never be.