Elizabeth

Before Woody and Buzz Lightyear (###),
the Velveteen Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh (###),
there was a marionette fashioned (###)
by an old carpenter who knew (###)
Pygmalion of Ancient Greece (###)
carved a woman out of stone, (###)
and falling so in love with her, (###)
forced the gods to condone (###)
turning her to flesh and blood: (###)
a real woman to hold and love! (###)
And so, Mister Geppetto, (###)
a carpenter by trade, (###)
carved from a block of pinewood (###)
Pinocchio, a child to raise. (###)
The old man wished on stars (###)
until the Blue Fairy took pity, (###)
turning wood to flesh and blood: (###)
Pinocchio, a boy, real and witty! (###)
Gepetto's wood shop was sawn away (###)
by the sharp edges of time. (###)
Now only Pinocchio's story remains; (###)
yet it's been said you may find (###)
a bit of wood or lasting fragment (###)
in forgotten corners of quiet shops. (###)
These are the misfit pieces, (###)
riddling shapes with moving tops, (###)
tossed aside, forgotten, (###)
their purposes rendered and done. (###)
No blue fairies or goddesses (###)
made them immortal lovers or sons. (###)
No stonecutters or carpenters (###)
wished on stars above. (###)
These odd-shaped pieces (###)
were left un-storied and unloved. (###)
But perhaps on day an artist's work (###)
will fashion them anew, (###)
and thus imagined, flesh and blood, (###)
they'll be real too. (###)