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Once a mighty prince
Saved his beloved sister from death
A death so evil
So wicked
So sinister—bereft
Of all human compassion
Stemmed from jealousy and envy
Of her beauty,
Intelligence,
And charms among many
Who was the mastermind
Of this planned assassination?
Why, the evil queen, of course,
Spiteful and bitter
So ready to take action.
And thus the prince banished the queen
Before she could even make the apple
Before his sister
Met the dwarves,
Before she wed in the chapel.
So Snow White stayed
In her luxurious little castle
With her protective older brother
Happily ever after
Superficial and facile.
For Snow had no freedom
No life she could call her own
No purpose
No gratitude
For her spot on the throne.
She never learned to be grateful
As she had with the Huntsman
For sparing her life
Even if it meant
A lifetime in the dungeon.
She didn’t earn her stay
As she had with the dwarves
She never cleaned
Or cooked
Or answered the doors.
“Why can’t I venture out?”
She asked the prince one day.
“I want to explore,
To discover,
To embrace my naivete!”
The prince paused abruptly
And looked her in the eye.
“My dear sister,
Please listen.
Sit down and I’ll tell you why.
Your naivete is especially
What makes me skeptical about you
You’re innocent
Gullible
And you retain your virtue.
The evil queen was an incident
That I do not wish to be repeated
She tried to have you killed
And you know that
You were almost defeated.”
As the prince kept talking,
she mulled over what he said.
I feel protected, she thought
Until she heard his words
Come up ahead.
“I banished the queen because
No one touches my kingdom’s property.
For you to venture out
Is a threat
To my authority.
In this castle, I monitor
Your every step
I trace where you go
And make sure that
Your safety is kept.
If you step outside of this castle,
I can protect you no longer
But here,
Where it’s safe,
I know you’ll grow stronger.”
And as white as snow, as red as blood,
As black as ebony wood,
That day the prince’s true colors
Were shown
As clear as the evil queen’s should.
“And if you feel in danger here
No matter what you do,
Remember that
Whatever happens,
Big Brother is watching you.”