A Fairy Tale for Today

All stories have to end sometime

Photo by Vlad Zinculescu on Unsplash

Our life is like a fairy tale
Two orphans in a house of brick
A beanstalk in the garden
A fireplace with cinders
The snow falls white in winter
In June, red roses bloom

A boy, now grown, makes his way in the wide, wide world
A princess at his side
Fighting dragons and conquering fears
Becoming more than anyone expected

Home is a memory, rarely savored
Joy and sorrow intertwined

And when we meet again
Mother, father, son
The boy will see how old we are
And know an orphan fate awaits him, too

We grieve the boy around whom life revolved
And celebrate the man we barely know

How many times together will there be
Before the story ends?
Three bowls of porridge
Three chairs
Then two
And one day, only one
By then, we hope
Where he has landed
Will be just right

©2025, Denise Shelton. All rights reserved.

Notes on the origin of this poem:

My husband and I have one son who was born and raised in California. We were a bit older than usual when he was born. I was 35 and my husband was 37. Our son is now 31.

When he was in college, his father and I made the difficult decision to move back East (we grew up in New York), because an IT professional over 50 has an easier time finding a job here. It took us three years of his unemployment and countless failed job interviews to figure this out. It was a rough time for everyone.

Our son was attending community college at the time, so he lived in our house until he transferred to UCLA. Once we realized my husband’s employment opportunities were better on the East Coast, we sold our California bungalow and bought a modest 1940s brick Cape Cod cottage in Pennsylvania. We have a big backyard where I grow flowers and vegetables. I do have a beanstalk, and there are cinders in the fireplace.

We miss our son and would love for him to relocate closer to us, but he’s pursuing a career in the arts, and all his friends and contacts are out West. He also admitted to us that, although he’d love to see more of us, he doesn’t want to live in Pennsylvania.

During the same conversation, he told me that he was sad to think that because he has no siblings and his grandparents have all passed away, he’ll be alone soon. (I found this alarming since I plan to live a good while longer.)

This poem was inspired by the realization that my husband and I are orphans and one day, our son will be, too. Just like in fairy tales, there are hardships, tests of character, and hopefully happy endings.

Support Live Theatre and Addiction Awareness

This month, my son Logan is at the helm of the award-winning play The Motherf*cker with The Hat at the Ashley Nichols Theater running weekends August 29 through September 14 with a preview on Thursday, August 28. Find out more about the show and purchase tickets here.

If you’d like to support this exciting production but are unable to attend, you can do so by clicking this GoFundMe link.

Here’s the pitch video. If you can attend or contribute to the GoFundMe, please do. The actors put their own money upfront to pay for royalties, equipment, and theater rental and are (frankly) desperate to get it back. They will be deeply grateful, as will I.