Oh! Goose Girl

This poem has an eerie source of inspiration. I have always loved fairytales, and in

particular, The Goose Girl. I was actually half-asleep when these words sort of
composed themselves in my mind, like the muse came for a subconscious visit. I
woke thinking "what is this"? And then I decided maybe I would not write it down
and just let it be a magical or whimsical aspect of sleep. Then, I heard my phone
ring and I let the answering machine pick it up. It was the strangest recording. It
actually sounded like a small girl singing underwater or to be more poetic, a naiad
singing on the river bank. The message was  inaudible but it had a
melodic, fluent quality. So I took it as a sign that this poem should be written down
and recognized. What it means? I really don't have much of a clue except it's ambient
and meant to evoke that sense of a nursery rhyme or folk lullaby that both soothes
and haunts the listener.

 

 

Fold into sleep
my flame-haired girl,

Your white geese sail on the water.

Dream of royal days

my doe-eyed girl.
Your white geese feed off the marshes.

I’ll take your hand

my hush-lipped girl
and trace his name within your palm,
so when you wake – you’ll call for him.

Your white geese soft in the shallows.
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The lovely image is by illustrator, Elizabeth Shippen Green, an artist from the late 19th century into  the early twentieth. And of course, the title is "The Goose Girl".