Two poems by Helga Kidder

iron boots illo

Snow White in 2015

Resting in her glass coffin,
she appeared alive,
ivory as snow,
ruby as blood,
hair dark as a starless night
draping over her shoulders.

Love at first glance,
the wandering prince claimed her
like a relic for his castle.

Seven is a godly number:
transformed dwarves, lights,
beds, knives, forks, spoons
and plates into goodness
that could not be denied.

Good things come in threes,
though owl, crow, and dove mourned.
No binding, no poisoned comb
or apple could take
Snow White’s life.

Her savior, the prince,
and his helpers
carrying the glass coffin,
stumbled on rocky terrain,
loosening the poisoned apple—
stepmother’s pride.
The prince offered Snow White
marriage as salvation.

So triumphed good over evil
as they celebrated their vows,
put red-hot iron boots
on the stepmother’s feet
for her final dance.

Never is the mirror blamed
for jealousy and pride,
yellow and green in the mind.

The moral of the story?
Nothing is
what appears to be.

– Helga Kidder

_______________

red riding hoodie illo

 

 

 

Faded Fairytale

The poetry of earth is never dead
—Keats

Once Red Riding Hood suffered
a boorish bore, that wolf, before
a forester came to rescue her.

Now nightly passion is
—the food channel.

Her tongue curls, twirls with fantasized
scents and tastes. Her desires percolate
goose bumps through her body.

On the screen, gumbo heavy
with fruit of the sea, swims the tube
ducts to her mouth and stomach,
like kudzu
overtaking terrain.

Food, her ardent lover,
ushers her into his chambers,
heaves reservations overboard.

Pulling the lever of imagination
consumes her,
keeps her safe.

– Helga Kidder

_______________

Helga Kidder is a native of Germany’s Black Forest region and lives in the Tennessee hills with her husband and her dog Tyler. She was awarded an MFA in Writing from Vermont College. She is co-founder of the Chattanooga Writers Guild and leads their poetry group. Her poetry has appeared in Louisville Review, Southern Indiana Review, Ekphrasis and many other journals and most recently was featured in Southern Light, Twelve Contemporary Southern Poets and in 2013 The Southern Poetry Anthology: Tennessee. After a trip to Israel in 2012 she published a chapbook, Coming to Jerusalem. In May of this year she participated in a poetry workshop in Auvillar, France. She has a translation chapbook, Gravel, a poetry chapbook, Wild Plums, and a full poetry collection, Luckier than the Stars, which was published by Blue Light Press in 2013. In the summer of 2014 she participated in a poetry reading in Minneapolis, Minnesota and continues to participate in an on-line workshop with Blue Light Press, San Francisco.

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