The Story Of A Reindeer, An Aeroplane And A Temporary Princess Poem by Diana van den Berg

I have an aeroplane –
or at least an aeroplane wing –
sticking out of the right-side of my head
MY right-side, that is, not your right-side,
or yours, or yours, for that matter,
your left-side, not your wrong side.

The prettiest little wasp -
well I didn’t know he or she was pretty
until afterwards when I rescued him or her
from the bucket into which he or she fell -
buzzed at my ear –
my right one,
not my wrong one,
and wrongly,
not rightly
and instinctively
and stupidly
I brushed him or her away
without stopping to think
that he or she was probably just
a pretty little wasp.

So simply to protect himself or herself
from a seemingly vicious human
far bigger than a wasp,
it sorta said,
“Please don’t do that! ”
I think he or she may
have said it twice
and that was on Saturday
and now I am Rudolphina
the red-eared reindeer
or Princess Charlotte
with one normal ear
or Diana
with a fat
and bright red aeroplane wing
sticking out of the side of her head
at a ninety degree angle
until the swelling goes down.
I think if I only had two such wings
I could jump off the roof and fly.

(20 February 2012)