Again
Look at me now.
My maturity not yet conceived,
Unpleasant memories. Still weak
From the bloom, bullet tears
From the pain. This escape bearing me
No benefit except useless, meagre fruit.
Limbs lengthened out of proportion
Stubby fingers struggling over buttons
Just when the tale should’ve
Come to a beginning.
Don’t you hear the silent pleas?
To be born slippery, golden
New?
This is not me.
Again, again.
Adapted from:
Agha Shahid Ali. “The Wolf's Postscript to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.” A Walk Through the Yellow Pages. SUN-Gemini Press, 1987.
Denise, Anna. “How to Change a Frog into a Prince.” Library of Congress, Poetry 180, 2003. https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/poetry-180/all-poems/item/poetry-180-176/how-to-change-a-frog-into-a-prince/.
Duffy, Carol Ann. “Achilles.” The Daily Mirror, 16 Mar. 2010. https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/poet-laureate-carol-ann-duffy-208274
Duffy, Carol Ann. “Medusa.” The World’s Wife. Picador, 1999.
Howe, Sarah. “Tame.” Loop of Jade. Chatto & Windus, 2015.
Yolen, Jane. “Fat is not a Fairytale.” Such a Pretty Face: Tales of Power and Abundance, edited by Lee Martindale, Meisha Merlin Publishing, 2000.
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