The Hungry Queen

There once was a queen who was banished from her kingdom for deeds so unspeakably terrible I dare not speak of them here. The exiled queen wandered for a long time. The power of hatred in her was so strong it had eaten nearly all of her kindness & beauty. As these weakened so did her ability to walk in the world seen as she once was. She became part shadow, her body resembling a black cloud. She hungered, oh how she hungered but she could not eat for when she tried she found her mouth was too small to take in any food. Her throat was too small to swallow. The shadow in her grew so that she became fainter & fainter, unable to touch, to feel, to smell, & even to really see through her clouded vision.

A young Mother Crow out collecting food landed near the Queen. She chewed up food & spat it at the pitiful Queen. “Eat with the beak” she said. The Queen got angry & flew in a rage. She thought the crow was making fun of her. Again the crow chewed up food & spat food at her. “Eat with your beak” she said. The queen took a little & found she was able to take it in. She raged at the crow demanding she give her more. The crow flew away quickly singing “Silly Cow, this is all I have to give you now!”

The Queen stewed through the night & into the next day. Mother crow returned & spat out more food for the Queen. The Queen devoured it & it only fueled her hunger more. Again Mother Crow flew away quickly singing “Silly cow this is all I have to give you now. I have my own to care for.”

The Queen thought, “if I can find her young, I can kill them & then Mother Crow can feed only me!”

This time when Mother Crow flew away, the Queen did not protest but watched & listened to the direction in which she flew.

Making her way into the woods, she heard the chirping of young birds & hid herself nearby. When Mother Crow flew away to gather more food, the Queen crept up the tree & with her newfound strength from Mother Crow’s care pushed the nest out of the tree, killing all of the babies in an instant.

Mother Crow flew back to the nest upon hearing the screams of the young birds only to find the gloating Queen in all her shadowy glory.

“That is a shame,” said Mother Crow. “It was a nest of orphans. You have done me a favor for I did not know how long I could care for them. & Now that you have taken this burden from me, I am free to go home. Thank you kind Queen.”

The Queen was angry & moved to strike at Mother Crow but something stopped her. In her heart where the kindness & beauty had nearly all but died, nourished by Mother Crow’s care, a small sprout had arisen. Mother Crow said to the Queen, “Your mouth is bigger now. Your throat is bigger now. You can accept nourishment on your own, as long as you do not eat too much.” So the Queen had to learn a new way to eat with her shadow body. & little by little she learned how to accept good nourishment & could walk in her path firmly.

Mixed-media Assemblage: 35mm & Medium format black & white prints on rice paper, decoupaged on paper-mache molded from a Japanese Noh Fukai mask.