Blackthorn

We told her; we said, 'Don't court the Wild Ones!'
We told her; we said, 'Don't go to that tree!'
She knows that the Wild Ones take those with sweet voices,
And yet still she sings to the Lunantishee -
The spark in her eye turns wild and turns feral,
And the lilt in her laughter is madness run free,
She won't listen when we say, 'Don't go to the blackthorn!'
And she sings, still she sings, to the Lanantishee.

Tell us your stories, your poems, your riddles
Sing us your darkness, play us your light
Give us your laughter, your pain and your teardrops
Share all your fears, your hopes and delight
You think that we nurture you, show you and lead you
That we won't steal your dreams in the darkness of night
But you don't mean a thing to us, just as long as you sing to us,
For we are the Blackthorn's Lanantishee!

From Blackthorn by D. Arduini and G. Smart.

I've always liked faerie folklore, and here is the tale of the woman who didn't want to stay away, regardless of what she was told by the wiser members of her community. It's two sides of the same story, mortal and faerie.

The piece is drawn with ink on pale green calligraphy paper. The words overlay and entwine - the 'mortal 'words are in sepia and the 'faerie' words twine around them in dark green, all written over swirls of paler green.