Little Red
Sometimes, we have wolves around us
Tearing into our lives like vicious reminders
That the real world…bites back
That night my grandmother died
I was no fool
The real world seems to tell the stories by the word of the victorious
Our history is written by whoever comes out alive
And so I’m here
Because my mother always acted like I had nothing to say
Because in the beginning,
I lost
And aren’t we all judged by that?
A tainted first impression?
…
I didn’t ask to be saved from the belly of the wolf
Contrary to what you all know
It was my choice, -to be there
But isn’t the point of men to invalidate a woman’s triumph?
That day I walked into my grandmother’s house
- I was not fooled by the wolf-in-Gran’s-clothing
But there was no trace
No proof of a fight
And my Gran-
My ex-military fight-not-flight
Spunky Gran-
She would’ve won this fight
…
I was sure
Beyond sure that he had swallowed her whole
My plan began ‘tick’ ‘tick’ -ing in my brain
The gears spun at full throttle
I would have to go in and get her!
Gradually, Carefully,
I acted oblivious,
Innocent,
Forward,
Closer,
Lean in,
Hold Breath,
…
The belly of the beast is a silly expression…
Aside from icky residue
It was only slightly cramped!
…
Gran looked at me with a bone chilling icy stare
We knew
It was time to bust out.
In that same moment a rogue huntsman clambered in
Drunk, and violent
He swung an axe clumsily at the wolf,
Startling it and us
Bang!
Gran didn’t like being ‘rescued’
Bang!
She didn’t need it
Bang!
Her 3 warning shots rang into the roof of her cottage
My, did the huntsman clamber away
Quickly, yet oddly efficiently
Out the door.
Press hounded us
…
But Gran’s pride
Was something to be respected.
Gran and I
We shot every last wolf in that forest.
He took the credit and of course-
Mainstream media is a wicked waterfall
A sea of lies and heroic ‘half-truths’
Anything that sells
A hero story always sells the street papers out faster-
Than the self-sufficient woman
so
In the end he got to tell his story
But now you’ll all know the truth…
Sometimes we have wolves around us
But they’re nothing you can’t shoot.