Friday, May 20, 2011

Poetry Friday - Snow White


It's been awhile since I've posted for Poetry Friday, but my 14 year old daughter recently presented me with a couple of new poems, so I thought I'd share one of them. This is Snow White. You think you know the story, right? Well, here's another take.

Snow White
by KRM

Her body,
Wax in a coffin
Her smiles, her charm
Hardened into the frowns of
Death
I wanted to reach out and touch
My childhood friend
My sweet Bianca
My Snow
But her Guardians
Squat, squinty old
Men
Wouldn't let me.

Her hands are clasped
Over her heart,
An apple
Blood-red, ripe is
Clutched in them
Over her stopped heart
As I turn away, I notice
That
And that
There's a bite in the apple.

A Guardian with
A long beard and circular
Glasses
Growls at me that it's decoration.
A bite?
I ask
He harrumphs and won't
Speak more.

Bianca's gone.
Who cares about
A stupid apple?
My heart is heavy
As I walk back to my
Steed
Ready to go home
Home without my
Bianca

But something pulls me back
I pause
I can't leave;
Not yet
I can't leave
Bianca here
Alone
With these crones
I'll take her body with me
I'll stand vigil
With her
I won't leave her
No
Not yet.

I tell the Guardians
And the look sort of
Shocked
I plead to caress her
Skin one last time
Before I stand vigil
Over my best friend.

Reluctant
Wary
They open the coffin
A lid of glass
In my mind
I think of Bianca
As free
She can escape
With me
Now

I touch her
Afraid at first
And then,
(I don't know what I'm
Doing)
I lean over and kiss her
Like she never let me
In real life
If she were
Alive,
She'd kill...

Her eyes blink open
She screams against my kiss
She pushes me away
Xavier!
She cries my name
What the hell
Are you doing?

My princess.
She's back
And I don't know
How I did it.

The Poetry Friday Round up is by Julie Larios at The Drift Record. Stop by for great poems.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Talking about Required Reading

Does being forced to read classics make students smarter, or does it just annoy them? Join the conversation over at YA Authors You've Never Heard Of.