With skin like snow

And eyes like honey,

When the girl was a child

She killed a bunny.

 

She was not good,

She was not kind,

But because she was beautiful

She was considered divine.

 

The men of the kingdom

Laid flowers at her feet,

Begging her softly

To marry one of their fleet.

 

But the girl wanted no man,

She would live in no simple town,

In the depths of her heart

All she coveted was the crown.

 

(The crown

That rested atop the head

Of a feeble woman,

The current queen –near dead.)

 

So one day she offered

One suitor a special prize,

“For a seat on the throne,

Hunt this woman and take her life.”

 

Because of her beauty,

He listened and agreed.

And together, in their hearts,

They planted wicked, selfish seeds.

 

Thereupon the hunter and the huntress,

Both united in the deed,

Stalked through the hallowed woods,

Their bosoms sprouting with their greed.

 

When they came upon the castle,

Glittering white –seeming unguarded,

They brandished their sharp daggers

And stormed the halls, then parted.

 

For the girl ran to seek out

The precious royal jewels,

While the man crept in search of

The haggard old fool.

 

When each came upon

A wooden castle door,

They slipped inside,

Not knowing what was in store.

 

First the man stumbled into

A dark bedroom,

With seven dwarfed statues,

Staring through the gloom.

 

“Alas, it is the tired witch!”

The man cried and gathered close.

He unveiled his glinting scabbard,

While the statues watched what he chose.

 

As the ancient queen slumbered,

Her white hair gently curled,

And the statues silently waited,

As the dagger struck and fate unfurled.

 

“King am I now to be!

With a beautiful wife to kiss!”

The man delighted for a moment,

Until a statue moaned,

 

“What you’ll get is this:

Because of your evil heart,

And your stealing of our good queen’s breath,

The only thing you shall receive…

 

…Is the kiss of death.”

 

Meanwhile, the girl had opened a room,

Where a mirror shined high on the wall,

And so she approached and asked of it,

“Who is the fairest of them all?”

 

The mirror’s eyes peered deeply,

Scouring the soul within,

And replied quite shortly,

“Why you, my dear, are beautiful as sin–

 

And now your wish has been granted,

So go find your hunting man,

And reap the deserved rewards

Of the success of your cruel plan.”

 

Then this girl whose face of beauty

Masked the black wolf in sheepskin,

Raced back through the hallways–

Her pretty mouth stretched into a wide, wide grin.

 

But when she reached the queen’s chamber,

And snatched up the soiled crown,

The fairest girl in all the land,

Realized her suitor was nowhere to be found.

 

Instead, what lay before her,

Glistening fat and red,

Was the finest, ripest apple.

“I must eat it,” she said.

 

So with the crown in one hand,

And the apple in another,

She thought she heard a man shriek, “No!”

As she bit the fruit and gave a shudder.

 

Now together, they lie rotting,

The hunter and the huntress,

Both getting their desires

But losing their spirits in the process.