two poems

Two poems about Little Red Riding Hood, the first is by me and the second by my wife. Next time, she will write the first one and I the second.

Reading Red Riding Hood, Age 6

- Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

There will be a wolf in the woods

There will be a young maiden and an old hag
I understand most of this
The woodcutter scares me
His axe sticky with the sap of his victims
His burly body slick with sweat
He bursts in and
Slices open the beast
He seems to kill a lot of wild things
I think Granny and Red
Were happy to be eaten
Masticated and slowly digested
In a dark place, far away from
Axes and sweat and heart’s sap

In A Lone Cottage

- Yasmine Claire

There are maidens and there are wolves,

And then there are the rescuers,

Big, burly, brave,

They burst in, uncalled,

Unasked.

Dragging with them, death,

In bloody trails.

But the forest is old,

I, older still.

I have walked these paths,

Known each tree,

Known each beast,

And held their magic,

In me.

Know, hunter, when you kill,

And spill life,

I am watching,

Waiting.

For you to burst in again,

Unannounced.

My grandmother and I,

We are readying a feast,

Wolf is by the hearth,

The fireplace warm,

Outside storm clouds gather.

You are lost, hunter,

Tired you drag,

Feet, weary and hands blistered,

Fingers caked in mud and blood,

You seek us.

In a lone cottage,

A welcoming light shines,

Inside two women and one wolf,

Ancient and endless,

Wait.

Wait, hunter,

For you.