What if

Snow White’s skin

wasn’t pale as snow?

 

But instead, a rich mahogany

polished and refined

and given a chance

to shine.

 

What if

it wasn’t her complexion

but her compassion for others

that made her pure?

 

Her acceptance

of each and every friend

from once upon a time to the happy end.

 

What if

the Evil Queen

wasn’t a person

but a standard?

 

And her poisoned apple

an ingrained belief

grown from ignorance and insecurities.

 

What if

her mirror mirror on the wall

was really

a self portrait of us all?

 

More than a reflection,

indeed, a deliberate creation

drawn from our culture.

 

What if:

It is a statement

that can stand alone.

 

Yet always invites us

to consider so much more

than

Once Upon a Time...