Take a small pinch of morning dew,
add a bright beam of sunlight too.
Mix in nectar from honey bees,
Both fresh and sweet from cherry trees.
Add just a sprinkle of stardust,
in the forest quiet and hushed.
Bring some more midnight magic fair,
add to the sweet, enchanted air.
Gather bluebells from a calm sea,
washing over a grassy lea.
Mix with just a touch of nightshade,
picked from a silent woodland glade.
Add a sliver of mandrake root
enough to fill a pixie’s flute.
Pick a stem of deadly Monkshood,
one alone from the darkest wood.
Stir the concoction with a stick,
which will certainly do the trick.
Ensure this is from a sharp thorn;
use it before the break of dawn.
Sarah Das Gupta is a teacher from Cambridge, UK, who started writing last year while in danger of losing her sanity during a long period in a geriatric ward in hospital. Her work has been published in over twenty countries in many magazines and anthologies including: Tales from the Moonlit Path, Black Poppy, Lothlórien, Dark Horses, The Sirens Call, among others.
Published 5/12/24