Schneewittchen & Rosenrot

painting by judith clay

Schneewittchen & Rosenrot

“Every once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life,

love gives us a fairy tale.”---Anonymous

Long long ago, when magic lived & evil could prevail,

in a small German village near the Dark Forest,

two young girls lived with her mother, an impoverished

widow, in a tiny hut, quite near the forest.

Rose-Red made friends easily, said what she thought,

always seemed to find the smile in every event, and

worshiped nature, loved to play outside.

Snow-White was taciturn & shy & loved to stay inside,

doing housework for her mother, or sitting by the hour

reading fairy tales, which she believed in.

One stormy early winter eve there was a loud banging

on their cottage door. Although everyone was terrified,

Rose-Red bravely went to the door and opened it,

to be greeted by a monstrous black bear, standing

taller than the doorway on two legs. 

Rose-Red could see immediately that the big bear

had kindness in his eyes. He told them that he would

never hurt them, that he was not that kind of bear.

They could see him shivering, with ice pellets hanging

from his jaws so they decided to let him in. He was

happy to lie in front of their small fireplace, and

he told them how strange & unhappy he felt:

“For some reason, all my bear companions disappeared

last week. I called them over & over, but they never

answered me. I am all alone, and I don’t know why.”

The girls patted him dry with one of their old tattered

blankets, & soon they were all laughing & playing

& rolling around the floor. The mother had to chide

them for their unbridled friskiness before they broke

some of the furniture. 

Early in the morning, the bear left, waving at them

until he was out of sight. He returned that night

with an armload of dry wood, and two wild turkeys

under his arm. They feasted on the birds, and

built a roaring fire. 

All winter he was their guest

in the evenings, and he brought them venison,

rabbits, & more turkeys. Even the wolves, who

used to boldly approach the hut, began to stay

far away from them. 

After the snow melted, mid-Spring, the bear

wept as he told his ladies that he had to leave

them for a few months, in order to go and guard

his treasure from a wicked dwarf wizard.

They missed their big bruin friend, of course.

One summer day while walking in the woods,

the girls came upon a dwarf who had his long

beard stuck in a thorn bush. Rose-Red used her

flower shears, and cut him loose. Rather than

being thankful, he was outraged; how dare

they cut off his magnificent beard. 

Seven times that summer they came upon the

dwarf again, and each time he was in some kind

of peril. Each time they saved him, and every

time he became angry rather than grateful. 

In early Fall, while out picking mushrooms, 

the girls heard a terrible commotion, and

they came upon the bear preparing to slay

the dwarf. 

He begged the bear to kill the girls rather 

than him, the bear became angry

and slew the evil wizard with one

swipe of his huge lethal paw. 

Instantly the bear turned into a handsome prince,

and he thanked the girls for helping him through

the frozen winter. The dwarf had stolen precious

gems from the prince, and then placed a curse

on him, turning him into a bear. 

The prince understood what he needed to do next.

The two young girls, and their mother, were moved

into the palace, and on Christmas Day, the prince

married Snow-White, who believed in such things,

and Rose-Red married the prince’s brother. 

Sometimes if we believe enough in something,

the Universe pays attention, and obstacles

are eliminated, and we get what we wish for;

too bad that is too often not enough for some,

and even fairy tales end up in divorce courts,

or as beheading spectacles. 

Glenn Buttkus

August 2013

Posted over on dVerse Poets Poetics

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?