Read Poem: Pair of Foxes, by Kinsey Kunkel

The snows of one summer
And the crows of another
And the red-splattered holly
And the dirt’s creepy-crawlies

Came together one winter to sway in the tragedy
The forest is dark for me

But I can see farther on nights in the forest
Than days at the fair
And I saw you there
Pretty minstrel
With tears in your eyes let the hymns roll
Sing paradoxes
Followed by your pair of foxes

Are the tears in your eyes for the music or the words?
Have you heard bitter melodies that I haven’t heard?
Pretty minstrel

And I’m filled up with tropes and clichés
Similes and metaphors
Idioms and paradoxes
Following your gaze
Singing with your pair of foxes

And whispers of widows
Wallow in the wind
Little girls shut their windows
To the wails that want in

And there are ghosts in the trees
With the ropes that won’t leave
And the white foxes feed
On the crows in the snow

So tell me why you came
Tell me, what’s your fame?
Do you have a name?
My pretty minstrel

And oh, tell me where to go
Can you hear the crows in the snow?
My pretty minstrel
Let me hear the hymns roll

Are your songs jolly?
Are they folly?
Can you wake the holly?
With music and laughter
Make me smile in the after
When the children are all tucked away in the rafters

Pretty minstrel
Take your pair of foxes
Paint the world with paradoxes

And sing to the ghosts and the widows and crows
And the snows in the roots of the trees
Where the ropes still won’t leave

Pretty minstrel
If little girls shut their windows
To the whispers of widows
May the voices of minstrels
Weeping songs to the willows
Seep in through the rafters
And fill them with laughter

With tropes and clichés
Similes and metaphors
Idioms and paradoxes
And when I miss your gaze
I’ll think about your pair of foxes
Pretty minstrel
Let the hymns roll
For the snow

Author: poetryfest

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