The air was warm, and the water cold
The sunset peach, and pink, and gold
When a fairie flew down to the marsh
Where Tick Tock the Crock kept silent watch

This night however, bore no ill omen
No ticking clock from the old reptilian
And our Tinkerbell, in a loose leaf corset
Circled the pond in a careful orbit

For Neverland housed sundry places
And this marsh hosted dragonfly races
Many a summer night Tink raced them
Then talked massive shit after she’d faced them

Yet on this ev’ning, she did not compete
For she simply wished to get off her feet
So Tink made a seat on a cattail’s fuzz
And listened to the insects buzz

“Buzz. Excuse me. Is this seat taken?
Are you lonely, or am I mistaken?”
A dragonfly just there alighted
Sat on the cattail just beside her

Tink was shocked by this polite newcomer
Most folk asked no permission of her
Most folk were pirates in the guise of mummers
Most just wanted to shake magic from her

“Buzz. Oh my. Do you speak, my dearest?
Dost-thou-make-sense-of-the-words-thou-hearest?”
He studied Tink with iridescent eyes
“¿Hablas inglés?” Asked the dragonfly

“Yes, fairies speak,” Tinkerbell upheld
“Though to most, our words are naught but bells.
And I’d be more likely to use it
If my voice made aught but pixie music”

Then suspicion filled her heart’s small corners
“Why aren’t you racing with the others?
Have we not met? For I come here often
Most dragonflies aren’t much for talking”

“Buzz. It’s true. For our species employs
A different sort of harmonic noise
Our song is one of quite savage joys
For dragonflies house the lost souls of boys”

“Lost boys?!” Tink started, suddenly alarmed
“It’s my job to keep them safe from harm!”
Her pixie heart had nearly failed her
“I must get back, I’m such a failure!”

“Not to mention my lovely Petey
See, the boy who won’t grow up is needy!
Always adventure, for he demands it
And sprinkle him with my sultry magic.”

Yet in the midst of her anxious worries
Wrapped up in all her constant hurry
Tinkerbell chanced to see her reflection
In the eyes that stared in her direction

She wore naught but leaf cut low and square
And one blade of grass in her golden hair
Her too large eyes were the greenest sea
Her round ebonpoints were double D’s

She admired her waist, and just below
Ample hips that fit through no keyhole
“🎶You silly ass,🎶” she chided her buttocks
But inside, of course, Tinkerbell loved it

“We’ve such short lives, we fragile pixies
I fear the day when Peter forgets me
Already I’ve died once, believe me
It was in fact belief that healed me.”

“Buzz. I believe you. For I as well
Tasted death but found not heav’n nor hell.
I lay there cold, ‘til a familiar tune
Sang my soul to this Neverland lagoon.

“Buzz. Each soul here died, though few admit it
The boys here race to try and forget it
For dragonflies would avoid the hurt
That comes with being so down to earth.”

The dragonfly took a shallow breath
“Buzz. I haven’t raced much since my death.
As a young boy I could not ignore it
I just never had the heart for it.”

“My flesh was weak, my spirit willing
I found other pursuits fulfilling
Buzz. Imagination was my world
And I loved to share it with my girl

“See, pixies hold but one emotion
Lose train of thought with each new notion
Your tiny hearts love small, but potent
This girl’s soul, though, was an endless ocean.

“Buzz. Hours we’d spend at the local pond
Yet in our minds we’d wander far beyond
She was not the moon, she was the sky
Fairies know not love like a human child.”

Jealous envy flared up hot in Tink
So spiteful then she could barely think
Which only proved the insect was right
This wise old young boy dragonfly

“Buzz. I meant no offense here on the marsh
Sometimes I just sit around and josh
All I’m saying is that she inspired me
And there’s much of her, that you remind me

“Your sunlit hair and your verdant eyes
Buzz. Wild and bright like a dragonfly’s
Your fearless soul and your warrior’s spirit
I’ve advice for you, if you will hear it

“The Lost Boys need you, Peter demands you
But you lovely thing, all this will drown you
Your own dreams are simple to ignore
Buzz. So take some time that’s truly yours.

“Take time to write, and take time to paint
Ask others to help you bear the weight
Take time to sit, and just be vacant
For you house a soul that’s truly ancient

“Buzz. Take time to check in on your dreams
Ask yourself what you still want to be
To a tinker fae, this is quite scary
You can do it, though. I believe in fairies”

And just then the disappearing sun
Announced the end of the races run
The dragonfly beat his wings slowly
In a swampy marsh that now seemed holy

“Before you go,” Tink’s small voice amended
“What became of her after you ended?
The girl, I mean, who was so like me
Have you found her in this land of dreams

He lifted slowly into the air
His thin violet wings windswept Tink’s hair
“Buzz. She sang magic for me, at my wake
Twas her voice that bid my soul escape.

“In Neverland she safely placed me
Til the day when once again she’ll face me
Whether in this life, or the next one
Buzz. Ours is a constant connection.”

Then he was gone, beyond Tink’s hearing
And she sat alone in the old crock’s clearing
Considering all that she had heard here
Before heading home to those she nurtured

For tinker fairies can’t help but mend things
Be it shoes, or souls, or just hurt feelings
To tinker is a noble endeavor
For it puts broken things back together

Yet even the most helpful pixies
From time to time should neglect these fixes
And give heed to their own heart’s desire
Buzz. So spoke the helpful dragonfly.