Unicorn

time to say goodnight; rhyme scheme abcddcba.

~ * ~

I saw the last Unicorn

On the side of the road.

It was lying, dead, 

Where someone hit it as it crossed.

Diamond tears hung in the frost 

Which crowned its magnificent head,

And silver blood flowed

From its broken horn. 

~ * ~

Author's Note

I hate myself for resorting to the use of the word 'diamond' but it was very late, at the time, and I hadn't used that, it might have been 'crystal' instead - and before you know it, I'd be writing Mary-Sue fantasy stories about someone called 'Crystal Moonshine Forgotten-Princess Elfsdaughter,' so please, excuse me...

Reviews

[The Analog Kid]

Real nice. Short, but to the point. Great imagery packed into this. A very real sadness sets in...

[just rose.]

this is incredibly poignant in its spareness. but what's really brilliant about this also is the sense of subversion you evoke with the by taking this magical symbol usually associated with gamboling springtime and fantasy and couching it in this very stark landscape. and for that reason the diamond works here. it serves as the magical bridge between the dusty gutter and the fairy forest. there's also the additional backstory suggested by the narrator knowing it is the last unicorn -- whether this is true or not, it certainly is for the narrator, so in that sense we see irony and innocence lost at the same time. something blake might've perhaps invoked with a lamb owned by a chimneysweep. well done!

[An owl on the moon]

This is such a poignant, beautiful write. The imagery brings about such a sadness at the loss of one so majestic... The Last Unicorn is one of my favourite fantasy books, and this brought me back to the stirring emotions of that story.