Lament by John C. Mannone

I felt that if I could have
married Little Red Riding Hood,
I should have known
perfect bliss. But it was not to be.

--Charles Dickens (“A Christmas Tree")



My memory, fragments
Winter leaves my heart cold
But I remember

Autumn light piercing
Sun gloating horizon
Shadows scratch the door

Axe on cabin wall
Silver bullets on the floor
Grandma off her rocker

Creaking on the porch
Echoes in the corner:
My, what big eyes you have!


Bloodshot ... lupine ghost
& saw tooth pines loom through fog
Red-raged eyes dilate

She trembles through the woods
Biting wind licks, salivates
Red cape full of fur

Red shoes, long red skirt
That she never got to wear
I still dream of her

And the Wolf
Moon still howls



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