Inner Seasons
© Terri Windling
[Image: "Spotted Red and Big" © 1999 Virginia Lee, used by permission]

Follow the crow and find the trail
of breadcrumbs, feathers, leaves and stones
to lead you from the summer lands
into the autumn and unknown,
yes go. Go now, as day ripens,
your fears writ large across the sky,
the wind whispers: 'don't be afraid',
the trees tremble as you pass by
and crow cries out, compelling you
through haunted hills that rise and fall
and breathe and sigh beneath your step,
and crow is gone...and you, you're small
and all alone, and frightened now,
the wind grows cold, the autumn trees
stand naked as the seasons turn,
the sun sinks down, you're on your knees
upon the grass, upon the ground
among toadstools, spotted and red,
as red as blood, as black as crows,
you rise and run, the sun has bled
its dying light onto the land,
follow the flame, follow the flow,
follow the one who takes your hand,
follow the sun, the moon, yes, go,
go quickly now, and join in the dance
where child, girl, woman and crone
all waltz within your heart, your skin,
your inner seasons, flesh and bone
formed out of water, root and stone,
and blood and flame, and leaf and star,
then sleep, and dream of days to come,
and all you'll be, and all you are,
yes sleep. You dream of crows, and clouds,
of feathers, flight, and fields of snow,
and of the day you tell your own daughter:
'follow the crow'.

Terri Windling, is a writer, folklorist, and consulting editor for Tor Books. She is best known for her editorial work in the field of fantasy literature, where she has long been a passionate advocate of mythic fiction. She has published over forty books, including The Wood Wife (a mythic novel set in contemporary Tucson, Arizona), The Winter Child (a picture book with artist Wendy Froud), the six-volume Snow White, Blood Red series (literary fairy tales for adult readers) and The Armless Maiden (literary fairy tales addressing the subject of child abuse) — as well as short stories, children's fiction, and the annual The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror volumes (with horror editor Ellen Datlow). Her essays on myth, fairy tales, and art have appeared in Realms of Fantasy magazine, and in books including Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales (Expanded Edition), and Meditations on Middle-Earth, and Fées. Windling has won six World Fantasy Awards, and the 1997 Mythopoeic Award for Novel of the Year. Also an accomplished artist, Windling creates "folkloric" paintings inspired by myth, fairy tales, and women's history. Her art has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the U.S. and abroad. In 1987, Windling created the Endicott Studio, and in 2001 she co-created Endicott West (an arts retreat in Arizona) with Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman. She is a founding member of the Interstitial Arts Foundation..