Broken Heroes~

Wolf gazed at Gretel in her blue bruise of life

through the golden bars of the cage

he looked over his broad shoulders

at the wicked beauty with the hunched over past

baking gingerbread dreams in an oven of red stone

 

"Let her out, you know you want to." laughed the witch with glee

 

Wolf turned back to the fable hunched inside her baked skin

he unlatched the pearl clasp of the cage with his teeth;

Gretel's eyes of aquamarine widened

the wolf reached in with an ideal of heroism and compassion

the girl covered her eyes

and pressed her spine deeper into the cage

humming a lullaby

 

the witch laughed

the wolf felt a tear wet the length of his muzzle

 

               ~*~

 

Sleeping Beauty's real name was Chastity

and what a good chuckle the Lords got out of that one

she lay in a pile of dead dreams scattered with oak leaves

on a bed of wood and blood cascades through those nights

when the ladies gazed with open mouths the color of cherries

as the ghosts unfurled out of their imported jackets and perfectly cut trousers

and overlaid her prismatic aspect of a refined Lolita dressed in palm leaves

 

there was a ghost that happened along one night

his eyes were the color of hope

and he wore the scent of juniper and savior

fresh mint and a pink carnation in his lapel

he decided to wake her from the nightmare with a kiss

 

the ruby lipped women widened their eyes

and sighed with relief when the girl curled her blossoms inside

turned away from the prince with high ideals

and no clue about the inlets of a sleeping beauty of this dangerous kind

 

                ~*~

 

 

The man in blue could have cried

but he was strong and resolved as he plucked the tiny lotus nymph

from a pool of blood

up into his arms

to carry her step by step up a stairway bent and broken

into the morning sunlight;

the nymph gazed past his shoulder

at the bloody footprints behind them

 

"You're safe now." said the young man in blue

 

the girl laughed pieces of crushed glass into the dust motes

swimming sunlight through the kitchen

jumped out of his arms

laughing like a crazy day myth wonder

as the man looked without understanding

how she could dance like that

with all those wounds

 

           ~*~

 

 

"No!" she screamed under a blaze of fireworks

the silver sparkles on her eyelids like tiny planets

colliding

with the gold prismatics in her green eyes

as she fell out of a tomorrow into a yesterday

where a young man was about to die;

the young man was a beautiful creature

who was deeply loved

so she didn't understand the allure that pulled him

into the plastic ugliness of a syringe

or the dilated darkness of his pupils

 

"If you do this, so many will be shattered, but one man in particular.  This man will dream your bones through every day, killing himself with the love that couldn't save you."

and she opened her palm

"Let me change your future, let me change his future of crushed moments through the days."

 

but he exhaled a smoke curl of irony

saying

"You're as broken as me.  So how can you play the hero, when you've broken every hero who would save you yourself."

and he pressed his thumb against the plunger

beneath fireworks the color of molten gold and blood

 

                ~*~

 

 

In a future this girl who would not be saved

walks the trail of broken heroes

sometimes

she will stop

and

pull the thorn out of a child's side

eat the broken glass off the ribs of a soul in anguish

and forever

dreams a different now for an old man

who's broken heart breaks her own

 

 

 

 

 

 copyright:2010vssmd/pa.inc

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

 

 

excerpt from . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Andrew Wright]

Such a beautiful disaster played out through the experience of this reading... We all have the potential to be that girl, Or the boy who tries and saves her... maybe even both. But hopefully there is some solace for those of us... them, who do. 100/100

[Bard Constantine]

Your way of flipping fae tales and returning them to the dark and gritty realm they spawned from is always a thrill... this was mesmerizing, touched with a dash of woe and irony when one cannot save another because he is just as broken as she... truly a reflection many of us view at one time or another in our warped and tarnished mirrors...

[Coyote Poetry]

So many good twist to the stories. Each one strong and interesting tales. Thank you for the fun stories to read tonight. A outstanding poem.
Coyote

[Emily B]

oh, wicked, wicked lovelies . . . wonderful

[Morning Star]

WOW this one truly is deep and interesting
I read it twice and still left me feeling
a little sad i would hate to be that girl
Truly a thought provoking
great imagery and flow love the language
Fantastic piece!

[Jonathan De Elvira]

I hate to be tht girl..
luckilly I'm not...
phew, supposedly heroes are untouchable rite?
hurm...I guess wrong..

[FireWoman]

The pieces of yourself scattered & splattered through the gray matter, rearranging themselves at will...

With each step in life, there will surely be a fall, however, your steps sting my eyes to read and cause my soul to bleed. I personally take comfort in knowing that strong women were woven with steel and marble fibers to ease such pain. You are your own salve/salvation but know you are never alone, as you are not ♥

[Cheryl J. Turner]

This is fabulous. Thought provoking and interesting to read.

[Maurice]

There is so much to enjoy here.

[Brad]

you need to write a children's book of faerie tales with adult overtones, i would love to do the illustrations...

and wolf, my fave character in your stories, needs to git his fangs on and clean house