The cold bodies rustled through the golden leaves of the forest as the young vampires Aleksandr, Lev and his sister Ana along with a handful of rogue vampires were searching for prey and the night was dark as the vampires hunted. They traced the prey’s scent until Ana raised her voice behind him, "Alek!", a lone werewolf lunged upon him as he opened his fangs to strike the werewolf with a fanged scratch to his muzzle, the werewolf then winced before vanishing into the woods as his brother Lev came up next to him and murmured “that was too close to the sun” as Ana agreed, “we were fortunate to have not killed the werewolf” and Aleksandr understood their words, for he knew that if he had slain the werewolf then the vampires and werewolves would enter war.

The gusts of wind had blown back Aleksandr’s long, wavy light ash blond hair as the group had returned to the cabin by the elder trees blanketed with green moss and were known by their branches that twisted, cascaded then descended as life and death itself. While the vampires spoke in the cabin, he walked out and started the path to the stream while his muscled arms lightly swayed to the music of the crickets in song. The stars shone as he reached the familiar waters, Aleksandr then heard the soft wings in flight approaching him as he witnessed his fairy companion Hilaera in flight towards him, he widened his scarlet eyes that sunk into the light of the moon as he smiled gently at her and called, “You have arrived at last, my beloved”.

Hilaera held her vampire close to her as he felt her scent of jasmine, wild berries and herbs, Aleksandr then ran his hand through her soft dark brown hair as her warm, magical light had floated upon them in their unity. As time had come to pass while the light of dawn slowly crept, Aleksandr sensed Hilaera’s flower-perfumed embrace in her kiss before she whispered to him “Often I muse, what do I mean in your heart, Alek"? The vampire glistened in his eyes and murmured, “You alone are love, that is the rose of beauty and thorns”. The two lovers felt the golden light falling upon the earth and Aleksandr was compelled to leave before he whispered to his lover, “Our goodbye is never forever” to which she returned in her magical voice, “Yes, for you are the moon to my petals as I am reborn in your arms” as they parted ways through the forest, for the sun awakens the earth and the moon lies in waiting for the lovers.

A flower does not seek why it bloomed
Nor does it ask why its petals are blue;
Time under the clear sky is alive,
Weathering storms can mean something
Though they're all likely nothing
To the aster who doesn't have a midlife.

In the quiet dusk, beneath a gray-veiled sky,
A woman stood by the river's edge, alone.
Her name was Liliana, a flower in the wind,
Once vibrant, now wilting in the twilight of her years.


Her tears fell silently, mingling with the soft rain,
As she watched the petals she had plucked, one by one,
Drift down the river, a gentle procession of loss.
Each petal was a memory, a whisper of love,
Now carried away by the relentless current.


Liliana's hands, once tender and warm,
Were now cold, trembling like the autumn leaves.
She had loved once, with a heart as open as the sky,
But time had withered that love, like flowers left to fade.


She followed the petals with her gaze,
As they floated down the stream,
Disappearing into the distance,
Where the river met the horizon,
And the sky kissed the earth with a sorrowful sigh.


The rain washed over her, a cleansing balm,
But the pain remained, buried deep within,
A thorn that refused to be dislodged.
And as the last petal vanished from view,
Liliana whispered a name,
One that the wind carried away,
To mingle with the rain and tears,
Forever lost in the river of forgotten dreams.

Time bequeaths a tune
Folding like fading petals
Butterfly breezed by

Hello yellow
Daffodil, as you scatter
Like the sun.
I see you spread
Your daylight ‘round
But still, your petals
Fall to the ground,
And I think to myself,
“I wish I were you,
I wish I were you but happy.”