“Glinda: The Three Sisters of Westfall.”

They say spiders no longer exist
just behind that house
at the end of the lane
across the main way
there’s a young woman
who tells a different story
Of three sisters who had it all.
Everything they needed in their collection
except for her.

1

The rumor was they were magic
descendant from glinda the good
Their house built, before time, like a cathedral
iron gates
guards
men of all stripes
on horseback
delivering gifts to the youngest
prayers to the oldest
love songs to the sweet one in the middle.
Each night they stood at their father’s graveside
Held hands in a ritual prayer
Together casting a spell of protection
Over
The skies
Mountains
Green blue waters
And valleys
as far as their eye could see.


2

The rumor spoke of a sacrifice
one worthy of glinda the good
the lie he told, to which that oldest was faithful
iron gates
guards
men of all stripes
on horseback
that was all that she told of 
those gifts to the youngest
prayers to the oldest
and oh the bounty of songs to that sweet one in the middle.
Each night when he stood at a lost daughter’s gravesite
felt the rush of her unmarked grave
her cries for a lost spell of protection
beneath
These skies
Mountains
these emerald blue waters
in our parish
his face the last she would see.

3

The curse it came from the sacrifice
of one they didn’t recognize as glinda the good
her house built, before time, like a cathedral
iron gates
guards
men of all stripes
on horseback
delivering gifts at her youngest
prayers at her oldest
love songs for her every breath and step in the middle.
the unwanted heir that slept each night at her own graveside in a vigil of ritual prayer
casting a spell of protection
Over
The skies
Mountains
the emerald shimmering depths, the cobalt of the blue waters
And valleys
his death, as those three girls, claimed his fortune, wasn’t the last she would see.

4

The rumor was they were magic
descendant from glinda the good
Their house built, before time, like a cathedral
iron gates
guards
men of all stripes
on horseback
delivering gifts to the youngest
prayers to the oldest
love songs to the sweet one in the middle.
But they stood at their father’s side
as if in a ritual, as in a prayer

watched him crack her neck with one hand
the sister half him
half an orphaned cook from our parish
watched him crack her neck, for their protection

ensuring them he said
his skies
Mountains
Green blue waters
And valleys
an inheritance they yearned for, an inheritance as far as their great hearts could see.

5

The rumor was she was magic
descendant from glinda the good
That house of hers built, before time, like a cathedral
iron gates
guards
men of all stripes
on horseback
delivering gifts at her youngest
prayers at her oldest
love songs for every breath and step in the middle.
Each night she awoke at her own graveside
while no others, not one of those other denied, not one of those other buried sons and daughters, joined her there
casting a spell of protection
Over
The skies
Mountains
Green blue waters
this mansion that is really a gravesite
as far as the eyes can see.

they claim
spiders no longer exist
but
just behind that house
at the end of the lane
across the main way
there’s a young woman
who tells a different story
Of three sisters who lured her with a job, an opportunity, a chance, to their shared father.
to the secret behind the mansion, to the burial ground that already held each and all of those years of unclaimed children
he fathered, except for her.

6

The rumor was they were magic
descendant from glinda the good
Their end began with a fever
troubled breath
jaundice
cold hands and feet
a whisper
that was there but wasn’t there
paralysis of the limbs and the breath
stopped hearts.
end of an uphill battle.
the land turning to disease at their father’s graveside
the grounds now deaf to their last ritual prayers
their half sister, buried, unclaimed, the unwanted heir, casting a spell of protection
Over
The skies
Mountains
Green blue waters
And valleys
and the land allowing her a final rest

after one last glimpse at beauty, one last glimpse at solace, one last glimpse at the seasons changing, and what she saw was

nature continuing on without them, without their rituals, without their prayers, without their spells of protection, continuing to flourish, without her and without them, continuing to flourish, continuing to flourish, nature continuing to flourish,

as far as the eye could see.

“Glinda: The Three Sisters of Westfall.”

© Weds. August 5, 2020 – Thursday June 5, 2025
Written by Nika Patrice.
Attribution: Nika Patrice.
Registered.
All Rights Reserved.