Thesternes by Edward Cates and Anna Cates

A large tree in the middle of green woodland. Large white text reads: Thesternes. Smaller text reads: Discussing disabled characters in fairy tales and folklore.

Sundry dark souls sleep ‘neath elden loam
Tenebrous tendrils wind ‘round their bones
Spirits arise from under the benighted hills
At the pipers’ skillful and enchanting trills
Playing the haunted dances of eldritch fae  
As they gather together from glen and brae
Ambling down through moon-silvered dells
To dance the reels where the fae kings dwell
Whose brows are crested in woven starlight
Though their hearts are robed in midnight
But should you harken to that piping sweet
And in dreaming, venture where they meet
To find yourself amidst their merry halls
Pray the light dark charms forestall

100-year sleep
that purple planet
called dreams . . .
awaken me before
the thorns envelop me

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​NOTE: Unitalicised text is the work of Edward Cates. Italicised text is the work of Anna Cates. ​

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About the authors:
The late Edward Dana Cates (2/23/69-11/12/23) was a disabled househusband and writer/poet from Seymour, Indiana.  He attended George Fox University and served on Deviant Art’s literature committee, where he acquired many mutual fans and friends.  The original versions of his poems are fully illustrated a viewable at his online gallery: https://www.deviantart.com/barosus/gallery.

Dr. Anna Cates teaches writing, literature, and education online and has published a variety of books (poetry, fiction, and drama) through www.cyberwit.net, prolificpress.com, redmoonpress.com, and wipfandstock.com.  Her full-length poetry collection, Love in the Time of Covid, won an Illumination Book Award.  She resides in Wilmington, Ohio with her two cats.