On the third night before midwinter
Ice daggers clothed the leafless forest
Turning moonlight into
Glitter beams among the trees
And we came to the clearing
Bone-tired and footsore
With frost in our beards

A footman in tailcoat and stovepipe hat
Swept a low, sardonic bow
And bade us welcome
As we stepped into the circle
Of the Queen of Sorrow's Ball.
The night was dark
But swarms of purple fireflies
Flitted beneath the boughs
And the ladies of the company danced
A stately pavane in the snow
To the rich hurdy gurdy drone
Of a vulpine orchestra
While their suitors smarmed and chittered
Stiff-backed and double-jointed
Sipping honey beer from ice goblets
And laughed like tiny children
With voices of broken glass.

At the centre of the clearing
At the centre of it all
The Queen held court
Bestowing a nod here
A smile there
Enchanting all who laid eyes on her
None more than I
As the night turned slowly to dawn
And the festivities unwound
She held my gaze and whispered:
"Come back tomorrow."

On the second night before midwinter
Four of our party returned
To feast and dance in the arctic night
Beneath shimmering veils of green
Waiters in silver
And ushers in bronze
With feather caps and formal coats
Served acorn cups of spiced mulled wine
And the ladies danced the sarabande
While the gentlemen played at cards

The Queen ran silken fingers through my hair
And the courtiers averted their gaze
As she leant down to me
Lips brushing my ear
To softly say:
"Come back again, tomorrow"

Which is why
The night before midwinter
I ventured back, myself alone
To rejoin the merriment of the court
Starlight rimed the Earth's white carapace
And wolves bayed in the wood
And in the clearing was music and laughter
But no-one to be seen
I swigged harsh brandy from my flask
And listened to a lively gavotte
From behind the curtain of the air
Perched meekly on a fallen log
And waited for the shortest day.

She deigned to come, then, briefly
And grant a final smile
A flutter of the eyelashes
A light caress, a kiss

"Aren't you going to ask me
To come back tomorrow night?"
"No call for that," she laughed.
"You're here now, that's what matters.
It's the third time, that's the charm."
And then, even as the ice crystals
Started to spread inside me
To cloud my vision and pierce my heart
She turned carelessly away to her unseen companions and said:
"Ladies, let's segue."