surprised by time 
ghosts pick fairytale slippers 
out of midnight 

wait on ladders 
for the unwary to pass beneath
and catch an hour's witching 
before stallions turn to rats 
and the prince comes 
with a turned horseshoe 

his princess, riches to rags 
spectral in cinders
wails at her sisters  
who drift the staircase 
looking for their own shoes
tossed before midnight struck them 
dead on the ballroom floor 

they shake the clock 
pound minutes 
and join hands  
in a clap of magic

© 2005 by Joanna M. Weston. All rights reserved.