Unicorn
By Sarah Murphy, aged 12

Unicorn

A flash of white
A soft patter of hooves
A single, slender spiral glowing faintly
With a pale bluish light.

Soft pearly white coat shining
In the radiant sunrise.
Large, deep dark dewy eyes
Watching ripples in the azure depths.

On the other side of the enchanted sea
A maiden is absorbed
By the cooling blue.
The creature gazes silently upon her
Longing to serve her day after day.

Its light steps float along
The honey-dipped sand.
It glides towards the water's edge
And then it
Leaps.

It swims against the churning waves,
The wild wind
Lashes
At its flying cataracts of mane.

The girl looks up
And almost swoons as she sees
The animal struggling,
Golden hooves kicking,
Nostrils flaring,
Neck wave-arched straining,
Floundering in the foamy brine.

It cannot fight against the sea
It is but young It has less strength
There is a storm
So underneath the pounding surf
It sank.

The maiden,
Distressed and angry,
Ran before the waves,
And tragically she wept,
"Alas! It was the unicorn."