(for Leah)
They warned me not to go to Carterhaugh—
Tam Lin was there
And he had a reputation
For using women.
But I went anyway,
And he wasn't so bad looking.
Tam Lin
Had some sort of thing going
With the Queen of Faery.
I fell off my horse, he told me;
I fell asleep;
The Queen enchanted me.
Yeah, right—at least Thomas never lied about it.
Rescue me, Tam Lin said—
Like I owed him something
For a roll in the rose-garden.
She'll turn me into an adder, he said.
Big news.
I've known a lot of snakes.
She'll turn me into a wild beast, he said;
I've known men like that, too.
She'll turn me into a flame, he said—
Like I haven't been burned before.
Sorry, I told him,
You can go to Hell—
I'm just here
To say good-bye.
I'll tell my folks you're shacked up with some queen.
. . . The kid's great
Though it's kind of hard raising him alone.
But I'm not worried.
If my knight never comes.
Hey—once you've strapped it on a few times,
You find out armor ain't so hard to wear.