The Grimm Girls at 45
(A Victimology in Fibs)
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1. Cinderella

Lip.
Trip.
She scolds
the new drip
for his drop in sales.
Her slippers can't compete--she hails
all employees to the factory to re-gild shoes
while her prince sings the blues with her best friend, and she schemes to
overthrow those Jimmy Choos.

2. Sleeping Beauty

Dip.
Grip.
She helps
him un-zip
beneath the staircase.
No names, just games, electric space
til the school-bell rings. On her way home she picks up pears--
(she tucks seven in the coat she wears), then bakes a sweet and sticky mess
while music blares.




3. Snow-white

Tip.
Sip.
Twelve-step
program slip.
She's bleached her black hair,
wears dark shades to the ex's fair
so she can see her kids. The dwarves saved her from remand--
bailed her out again--they sigh as she stumbles from the fortune teller's
stand, flask in hand.

4. Rapunzel

Hip.
Flip.
The prince
likes her whip.
Her hair hits her ass,
shows off her work in the glutes class.
She had her tubes tied and a boob job after the twins
to tempt the pool boy (but she sees him cringe). Then she recalls his car
payment's due... and grins.

by Marybeth Rua-Larsen

Marybeth Rua-Larsen's poems have appeared recently or are forthcoming in Measure, 14 by 14, Lucid Rhythms, and kaleidowhirl. One of her poems was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and she was a finalist for the 2007 Philbrick Poetry Award, a chapbook contest sponsored by the Providence Athenaeum. She lives on the South Coast of Massachusetts.

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