Life as a Pre-Raphaelite painting

 

I stroll for a while in copper-coloured landscapes. Faraway flora seems over-sharp to my eyes in light of their distance. Then I come across dozens of sepia-haired damsels. All bearing the face of Lizzie. How long have I been here, I wonder? Trapped in one of her laudanum dreams.
 

The Strawberry Thief

 

This time I discovered who it was. School-uniformed. A cocky teenage truant! 
Languidly, he stops by my strawberry-bush, picks one.  He rolls the fruit over his tongue, cheekily, watching my window as if he knows I hide there. So smugly self-assured.
But tomorrow I shall spray the bush with poison. 

Confessions of a woodland mammal

 

I have a confession to make. I'm in love with someone I shouldn't be. Oh, how handsome he looks in his red coat, on his dark horse! I cannot help it. Even as he blows his horn and his hounds chase me, jaws snapping I always steal a backward glance.
 

My Monstrous Act

 

Many years ago I hatched and raised a little sea-monster.

He outgrew first bowl, then bathtub, then pool.
I took him, tearful, to the ocean.

Last I heard, he was skirting the edges of ancient maps. I wonder if he ever thinks of me, this scaly one that I forsook.