One sip
to poison a prince,
his teeth sunk
into forbidden fruit,
while one-true-love stands
waiting,
patient,
the perfect good girl
all fairy-tales and smiles,
alone.
Drinks her own potion,
steps free
of skin
crafted from paperbound
volumes brittle with age.
Breathes.
Finally.
Screams.
Carol J Forrester 
Oh… sounds like a different kind of Romeo and Juliet! A passionate death for both chosen only by one! Loved the poison crafted from old dusty poison books!
Nice subversion of the fairytale norm. I like the fractured story telling.
Thank you Sarah. It’s not my normal style so I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Well, a twist of fate indeed! Cleverly worded.
Thank you Beverly. I’ve been writing lots of longer poems recently so I was overdue for a quadrille.
Loved the end!
Thank you very much. 😀
Your welcome!
There is fatal thread running through this Carol… perhaps the two connect in death?
Perhaps. Fatal thread though, I like that phrase. I may be stealing that.
this sounds like a cheater was divorced and the other walks free. i could be way off. regardless this is a powerful poem
Not the image I had when I wrote it but very possible.
It feels like there could be more than one interpretation. I do know that I saw a great image at the end of a princess finally freed from the pages of old fairy-tale books. I like that twist for sure.
That’s the same image I had Mish but I love reading what everyone takes away from the poems that the dverse prompts inspire.
You’ve twisted the fairy tale good and proper, Carol, with a dark sip! I particularly enjoyed the lines:
‘steps free
of skin
crafted from paperbound
volumes brittle with age.’
Thank you Kim. I was re-reading The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy the other day and I think it got in my head a touch.
Carol Ann Duffy is one of my favourite modern poets. There’s something about Carols – I have one as a sister too!
“steps free
of skin
crafted from paperbound
volumes brittle with age,”
This is such a strong and powerful write! ❤️ Do we ever really know someone? I wonder.
People will always have secrets that that keep to themselves.
Nice lines: “steps free
of skin” And ending with screaming.
We all need a good scream now and again.
Oh … love the way you used the fairy tale to turn the tables.
Romeo
Sip
Juliet
Drink
PoiSoN PaSSioN
HoNeY
FLoWeRS..:)
Gestalt therapy for our girl here 💥🙂
I’ve not heard of Gestalt therapy before? Care to elaborate so I don’t end up down an internet rabbit hole?
An experiential/existential psychotherapy technique, emphasizes learning how to be engaged and actively living in the moment, the theory has somewhat vaguely transubstantiated itself in recent years to the concept of “mindfulness.” Therapist often set up “safe experiments” with their clients to help them in feeling the form or “Gestalt” of their experiences in order to help them in finding a meaningful framework for those experiences… Sometimes it may involve screaming.
no rabbit holes. 😉