Slaughter

A retelling of Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter"

Mary Maloney, she loved Patrick so

She lived and she breathed just for him

Then one day he gave her some terrible news,

The result; her reaction was grim

 

He came home one night, not speaking a word,

Mary thought the policeman was tired

Then he said he was leaving, she’d be all alone,

Except for the baby he’d sired

 

Well, Mary was shocked and in disbelief

She went into the kitchen to cook

But Patrick said, “Don’t, I’m going out.”

She gave him a murderous look.

 

Mary then picked up a large leg of lamb

That was solidly frozen right through

She landed a blow on the back of Pat’s head,

And now she knew just what to do

 

She went to the store for a witness’ sake,

An unwitting grocer named Sam

He sold her potatoes and slices of cake,

She told him the main course was lamb

 

Mary went home and called the police ~

“Come quickly, my Patrick is dead!”

Detectives showed up and could tell right away,

Their friend had been struck in the head

 

Hours went by, they had been there all night

And Mary said they should all eat

“I’d put supper on before heading to Sam’s,

And it’s such a large portion of meat.”

 

The detectives accepted her offer

They ate while discussing the case

They said that they’d find the blunt weapon

And then, to the killer give chase

 

“That weapon is under our noses…”

The chief officer said to his staff,

And as they chewed up the hot evidence

Mary Maloney let out a sly laugh.

 

Author's Note

This is a sample piece for my class. They will be summarizing a story that we will have read, in poem form. The goal is to retell the story so that it will be recognized by those who have read it, and tell the complete tale to those who have not. I wrote this based on "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl.

Reviews

[D. T. Wine]

Wow...I'm impressed...I loved how it reminds me of some of Dahl's other poems, It style almost feels as if Dahl had written it himself. Brilliant adaptation.

[Rita L. Sev]

Thank you so much, D.T. I'm glad this did Dahl's work justice. I appreciate your reading and reviewing!