Once upon a time
(says Ruby)
there was a fair maiden.

She had to decide
which pair of shoes
to wear to her wedding.

The wedding was a sad funeral
for someone in her future
who had died.

The fair maiden loved her shoes.
Finally she decided
to wear these ones.

They are blue
and they’ve got a blue flower.
They remind of her mother
who died.

*

Rachel McAlpine

From a story by Ruby, aged 4 or 5 or 6