Beauty to the Beast

Beauty to the Beast

picture by PJ Lynch

When I dare walk in fields, barefoot and tender,

trace thorns with my finger, swallow amber,

crawl into the badger's chamber, comb

lightning's loose hair in a crashing storm,

walk in a wolf's eye, lie

naked on granite, ignore the curse

on the castle door, drive a tooth into the boar's hide,

ride adders, tangle the horned horse,

when I dare watch the east

with unprotected eyes, then I dare love you, Beast.

- by Theodora Goss

[The image is actually from "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon," illustrated by Pj Lynch, but that's a Beauty and the Beast story as well. This is where the heroine sees her bear husband's true form.]