There once was a Princess of a glorious land
Determined to determine someone to ask for her hand
And so she put out the call for suitors far and wide
To earn her hand and share in her pride
Many a man did come, intrigued
And many a man did leave, quite piqued
As the Princess of her quite glorious land
Was gloriously brash in making demands
Then there came a poorly-dressed man
And the Princess frowned as only a princess can
And wanted to know how the Princess of such a glorious land
Could have a suitor so very far from grand.
The man bowed, and said, “I’ll explain;
But first, you must agree to a game.
You’ll give an answer and I’ll ask a riddle;
And you’ll find what you seek somewhere in the middle.”
Some further explanation ensued
Until the Princess understood what she was to do
And then with a final clearing of her throat
She at last declared, “I am a moat.”
“Around stones and bridges that men hath sent,”
The man, with a smile, began after a moment,
“I circle and circle but never shall strike
There’s nothing I hate and little I like
And yet still I reflect and still might I kill
But I stir only at man or wind’s will
I fill with laughter when the heavens do cry
Now can you guess, what am I?”
“Not bad, not bad! Though I see a few flaws,”
Cried a Princess loathe to give her applause
“Yet the riddle is over and I still don’t know
What’s the thing in the middle that I’m meant to know?”
“If you were listening closely, you would have heard
Between answer and riddle was never a word
Therein lies your kingdom, the greatest of all
And Prince of Nothing is where I belong.
Writer In Retrospect 
Oh my, Rachel, how clever! Sparklingly so.
Just curious – did the idea just occur to you, as in “woke up one morning, and there it was,” or did it emerge only after you pondered for hours (or days)?
Then, inspiration delivered, how long did it take you to build a structure to show off your discovery?
I’ve been in awe of your stylishness for well over a year now, and I was hoping for glance at your creative process, if doing so doesn’t betray too precious a secret!
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Heh. ☺ Well I can’t say it’s any precious secret, really. At my best, I’d say my “process” is a combination between application and inspiration. When I was writing steadily, I could usually sit down at the end of the day, consider for a little while, and then pluck something out of the events, feelings, or thoughts of the day and write about it. It often takes me a bit longer to find something that feels right these days, but every once in a while some concept or turn of phrase (such as, “Princess of Nothing” — though the initial thought that inspired it was somewhat different than the finished poem) will pass through my mind that will have me reaching for the pen and paper.
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Interesting, Rachel – thanks for the insight! Sounds as though your creative process and mine follow the same tracks.
Often, half the time I spending penning an entry, goes into coming up with an introductory sentence. That hurdle overcome, the rest of the article populates rather quickly.
Usually, the intro yields only after much pondering. Sometimes, though, a lightning bolt strikes before I even snap the weekly photo(s).
That seems to be the way you function too, except in poetry, not food!
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Indeed!
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This was pretty cool. Like a fairy tale. This could be a part of a kid’s book for the tempo and imagery and education (even though it’s far too smart for kids).
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Thanks! I was definitely thinking of fairy tales. And you know, some kids can be pretty smart.
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