Today on the Ethical ELA Open Write, poet Stacey Joy invited participants to read a few short folktales, fables, fairytales, myths, or legends to inspire a poem: “Your poem might be a response to, a retelling of, or a new version of the original piece.”
I wanted to work with a fable but the children’s tale that came to mind first was… well, maybe you will recognize it… my poem is meant to be something of a mythological sequel–tribute.
The Legend of Water Rabbit
In the forest deep
upon a cushion of emerald moss
Water Rabbit sleeps
and dreams
of the Child.
In his dream
he cannot tell the Child
how much
he loves him
for to the Child,
the Rabbit isn’t real
and there is no language
for conjuring a bridge
across the chasm
of unbelief.
Water Rabbit twitches,
remembering
the nursery
the toys
the Wise Horse
who spoke of love
and longsuffering.
It was Fate that placed
the Rabbit in the arms
of the Child that night
when a favorite toy
was lost.
It was only for a season
that the Child embraced him
and carried stuffed Rabbit
everywhere he went…
Water Rabbit’s whiskers tremble
with dream-reliving.
He sighs.
Other rabbits nearby
cock their heads
and perk their long ears
for in a moment,
Water Rabbit begins
to whimper
and weep
and wail
in his sleep
—the dream
is all too real:
the Child’s fever,
the separation,
the command that
Rabbit and all the other toys
be burned.
It isn’t fire or fears
that brings Rabbit’s tears
but the thought
of never being
with the Child again.
—Wake up! Wake up!
The colony surrounds
Water Rabbit,
dozens of their small front feet
against his shimmery fur,
shaking, shaking him
into reality.
Water Rabbit gazes at them
through his tears
from his emerald-moss bed
and asks…Is it time?
The colony nods in unison.
Water Rabbit rises
wiping tear tracks
from his velvety face.
The colony parts
Water Rabbit
makes his way through…
he hops and hops with
boundless energy until
he reaches the clearing
where the Child
bigger now
(for he’s bigger every Spring)
sits on the blanket
spread over the grass
with a picnic feast
made ready.
Into the Child’s arms
leaps the Rabbit.
There are no words
for there is no language
that can capture
love so great
and eternal
and real
as real as the solitary tear
of a toy Rabbit
about to be burned
for the sake of the Child.
For it was that teardrop
the inevitable price
of love
and sacrifice
that brought life,
transformation,
salvation.
That is how
Water Rabbit
came to be.
*******
-with thanks and apologies to Margery Williams and The Velveteen Rabbit.
2023 is the Chinese Year of the Rabbit.
More specifically, the Year of the Water Rabbit.
lit bits and pieces 