The Witch to Rapunzel
I was young once—
Beautiful
Long blond hair, rosy cheeked, firm breasts, the works
An Aryan goddess with Aphrodite’s appetite
Well, girl, all beauty fades, they say
It’s become cliché
So, like a cliché,
I’ve brought you here
To waste away in this tower
Until you’re as old
And dry
And ugly as me.
I bring all the nubile girls here
Like I had been brought;
The fairy tales like to tell you
That they always escape—
Snow White threw up the apple
Sleeping Beauty was woke with a kiss
Cinderella made good, moved up and out.
But the truth is, honey,
That I’m cutting your braids
Just like I smashed Cindy’s shoe
Put the pills in Beauty’s food
And choked Snow White till her red lips turned blue.
Mary Jones © 2003