Grim Reaper Drawings - Pen to Paper Map Fairy Tale Adventure

So sad the song
Grim reaper drawings
pen to paper
colors modulated
map fairy tale adventure.

I held her picture
only for seconds at a time
because it seemed to be burning.

My blanket made of smoke
this reaper
to me the greater sacrifice
to you a cover from the dark.

He said she'd sing in the dark
grim reaper drawings
pasted in a notebook
hearing voices...
and I believed him.

I believed in her.

I pinned up her picture as my muse.
I played her music
even though there was no sound.

Such a pitiful dress now
isn't it?
Bonds to wounds
too thin to be called healthy.

I stole their weapons once
mapped that adventure
grim reaper drawings
clowns of decent
jesters.
I captured what I thought was their goodness.
It was not of course
twas only a white horse arriving in the doorway
greeted by everyone and their laughter.

Don't sacrifice till you are sure of the outcome.
Don't make any pledges
just for now
OK?
It may not be hopeless
but at the very least
we will know enough to mark the trail.

I will not shy away from such tragedies
heartaches made informal
dismissed
no matter how poignant.
Such a woeful thing
being set on the shelf
in a room made empty.

Gather all the masks then
I will not hold it against you.
I will only wash the napkins as you use them.

This meal
this monster you seem to mentor
will post the earliest retreat
pin reminders on the wall
to hide the children in the closet.

Innocence being the easiest to defeat
hopefully someday
someone
will unwrap the colors
and let them out to feel the rain again.

I will line up all my little paintings
grim reaper drawings
set them in a row and wait.
I will hold a seance
despite a child's objection:

"I am not dead as yet
tiny angels rescue me
please keep my vigil sacred
do not swallow the key
lest someone drown
and forget from where I call."

Fairy Tale Adventure Travel to Neuschwanstein Castle

No visit to the Bavarian region of Germany is complete without spending time at the famous Neuschwanstein castle, which is said to be the inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella's Castle.

Sitting high above the Alpsee Lake, surrounded by the towering Alps, the Neuschwanstein castle looks like a vision out of a fairy tale. It is said to be the most photographed building in the world and is characterized by its rising spires and towers and sits atop the Pöllat River gorge.

Construction began in 1869, under the orders of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, it was never fully completed by the time of his death in 1886.

For a castle, it was equipped with some very surprisingly "modern" conveniences. Each floor has running water courtesy of a mountain spring that is 200 meters higher than the castle. Additionally the castle has flushing toilets, which were extremely modern for the time.

Ludwig was a patron of the German composer, Richard Wagner, and many of the rooms are decorated with depictions of the Germanic legends he immortalized in his operas. Particularly, the Singers Hall, which occupies the entire fourth floor of the castle, is dedicated to the life of Parsifal, hero of one of Wagner's most famous opera.

The castle rises some 300 feet above the village of Fussen, which is itself the highest town in Bavaria. To get to the castle, one must take a narrow switchback road up to the castle gate. Some 1.3 million people make this trip each year, making the Neuschwanstein castle the most popular tourist destination in Germany.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.