Snow White's Visitation

The winter air

so clear and cold, it

covers the mountains

like a glass lid

 

and beneath -- darkness

tumbles along the snow.

The hair of a princess

falling into the folds

of her bridal gown.

 

She has already

lived her life

in the fairytale, awakening

to a prince

and prosperous fate, but this

 

is her specter

mounted on the dais

of the high desert terrain.

She looms before that bride

who sleepwalks through the day

dazed by the spell of routine

and deft fingers

indentured to cell or tablet

 

 the same way her ancestors

were bonded to loom

and spindle. The woman 

who chews an apple, slice after slice

 inducing her mind

to forget the prince, the partner

 

who needs to perceive

his reflection

in her mirror. Her voice

at coloratura pitch

shattering the ceiling, the keen silence

             with joy.  

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 So many times fairytales these days are turned into jaded views of courtship, love and marriage along with a great deal of cynicism. This is sort of my reaction to that; saying Snow white's specter looms on the horizon as a reminder to the wife who is totally absorbed in her career and ambitions, her identity as a self-contained maven , that her partner needs to be recognized as a vital part of her life and that his presence/reflection should also be reflected in her outlook (her mirror). And in doing so, her voice should also inflect that high sense of joy thus shattering the glass barrier of isolation that prevented this relationship from ascending to a higher level of understanding and communication.