Jane Yolen
He does not lie.
After all, he is a saint,
But Patrick spins a tale.
It has green grass in it, of course,
And snakes startling the blades.
It has wonders and wanders,
sacrifice and redemption,
those old artifices.
He uses those misrepresentations
we call metaphor
to teach a lesson.
He has learned them
at the feet of his saviour
where falsehoods become fables,
forgeries leap into everlasting life,
and a well-meaning deceit
can save the world
if– like a nail in a coffin–
it is hammered in just right.
***
Jane Yolen’s 380th published book is about to come out. She sends out poems to journals on a regular basis and has quite a few in sf/fantasy magazines as well. She is a Grand Master of SFPA (Science Fiction/Fantasy Poets of America), as well as a Grandmaster of SFWA and World Fantasy Assn. She has won the Nebula two times, Mythopoeic Award three times, and been nominated (but never won) for the Hugo several times. Six colleges & universities have given her honorary doctorates for her body of work.