many years ago
riding our shining ambulance
we found ourselves called
to a hoarder’s house
the front door was bolted
so we went round the back
fighting through coils of brambles
so full and thick
it was like trying to breach
an enchantment of barbed wire

eventually we found her
not sleeping but dead
hanging off a perching stool
a bucket on her head

as far as resuscitations went
it didn’t
a complete non-starter
we snapped off our gloves
in the spiky arbour

poor sleeping beauty
a little older than I remember

and the moral
to this horror?
I don’t know
enchantments come and go
brambles, princesses
uniformed witnesses
the best you can do is stay awake
and time how long an ambulance takes