(The Robber Bridegroom isn't exactly my favourite fairytale, but I do enjoy it a lot, as I do all Grimm fairytales.)
An exchange is made
between two men,
a distrustful bride as
commodity,
the bridegroom all charm
and invitations.
She turns down the path
to his house
in the middle of the
dark forest,
following the ash
and trailing behind
the fruits of her
life.
Turn back, turn back
cries the bird,
screeching of
murderers and
cannibals.
A creaky old woman
in the cellar
as old as the house
whispers secrets and
plans of escape
as the bird
cries out its warning
a final time.
She watches:
one other maiden
three glasses of wine
one death
one feast
one golden ring attached to a finger.
She escapes
full of secrets and
a plan.
A wedding banquet
lavishly furnished with
the bridegroom's lies,
she spins tales of
a dream
that is the truth,
with the golden ring and finger
as the funeral bells
for the robber bridegroom.
No comments:
Post a Comment