WINTER, SNOW, THORN
Written for prompt ‘‘I have daughters and I have sons’ at 31_days
Series: Sleeping Beauty (a generic fairy-tale version)
Rating/Warnings: T. Implied non-con (it's Sleeping Beauty, ok), implied incest. Poetry!fic.
A/N: yeah, it turns out that when you add a male sibling into a fairy story, the dynamic gets pretty disturbing. And Sleeping Beauty is already disturbing! Not to mention, sestinas are already enclosed and cyclical. I should just have gone with Hansel and Gretel, they only get almost eaten.
My wife slid into deep winter white sleep
When she bore me a son and a daughter.
My daughter learned the use of her needle.
My son crept with the frost across the forest.
And the year held winter in its eye
Like a fish curls its lip round a hook.
Like a wire-feather lure on a spiked hook
My old fear froze out into snow-sleep
But a glaring old women, her goat-eye
Slid the promise of sleep to my daughter
All alone in the white winter forest
Her future hooked up on a needle
My daughter was promised a needle
A red prick in wait like a sharp hook
The witch at the root of the forest
The gift of a red marrow deep sleep
I christened my beautiful daughter
I gave her a coin like a gold eye.
I looked at my son with a clear eye
I said boy learn the use of your needle
I trust you, winter child, with my daughter
This castle will wait like a steel hook
We will lie each alone in a sharp sleep
And the witch will raise up the dead forest.
Ride out of this white winter forest
Out under the sun like a red eye
Ride out far away from our long sleep
That hangs from the touch of a needle
But remember my boy there’s a gold hook
Remember my son there’s my daughter.
He returned for my beautiful daughter
He rode back through the sharp chiming forest
He baited his kiss like a red hook
Like you leave a gold coin on a dead eye.
But my daughter woke holding her needle
Grown goatish and old in her cold sleep
In the forest she spread out her green sleep
And she hooked me right in with her needle
My sly winter daughter, her red eye.
Sorry, guys, my internet self is mostly over at dreamwidth: fulselden. Please do comment over there.