bedtime story   The angelkiss princess (who else but you?) resplendent in her halo glow of fate, the vessel of all that yearns to be true -- she is wise, she is the everynight bait of griffins, she's beyond the jaws of blame, she's the twice-chosen bride; white-charger knights weep at the very whisper of her name; her flesh is dreamdust dissolving in light. The spark in your eyes, your hair as it falls to the pillow are what I prize above any of that, and you have more than all the sugarplum kingdoms of puppylove heroes, or sleepytime damsels who fly from witches, trolls, and dragons: you have life.     © Michael Fleming Berkeley, California September 1993