Monday, April 4, 2011
Poem a day for April, Poetry Month, Day Four
Subject for Day Four: Pick a type of person and write a poem about him or her. You may want to title your poem as who the type of person is as, “firefighter,” “Cynic,” “Optimist,” etc.

My poem for today is:

Stepmother

Grimm were the Fairy Tales
Brutal giants, amorphous wraiths,
but the worst of all were the
Stepmothers: Purveyors of evil
perched in the heart of home.
How did I escape, what or who
saved me from a life of toil and tears?
Was it because I was quiet, neat,
lovable, sweet? Quite opposite:
Inquisitive, a daredevil, hidden behind
dimples and a short two years.
There had to be a God who led
my staid father to an angel who
took such a child and said: “Look,
See, this is a picture of your real
mother. See how beautiful she was?
You’re going to look just like her, and
everyone loved her. Everyone will love
you too.” I believed, I believed and
my childhood lived in its own Fern Hill.