Table of Contents

  Introduction
  1. Mapping the Ways
  2. Spinning the Tales
  3. Voices & Viewpoints
  4. Spell Binding & Spell Breaking
  5. Magical Objects
  6. Desire & Its Discontents
  7. The Grimm Sisterhood
  8. Variations & Updates
  9. Ever After,
    Or a Few Years
    Later
  10. Living the Tales
  About the Authors
  Acknowledgments
  Selected Bibliography
  Index of Poems by Tale
  Index of Authors and Titles
  About the Editors

A L I C E   F R I M A N

Snow White: The Prince

She was my perfection once--
An ivory heart
A white bud stopped in stone.
And because she'd never change
I could have filled cathedrals with my love.
My cold virgin. My wafer. My cup.

I did not count on the accident.
Or the children for that matter.
                                         Do you hear them?
                      She'll play with them sometimes
                      out in the fields. Her black hair
                      streaked with gray, her waistline
                      gone.
I cannot bear to look.

I like it better here.
This glass from Venice. It's very rare.
And this Egyptian ankh--symbol of life
Frozen in its own silence.
And this quaint piece:
The mirror from the old house. You must have
Heard of it. Go ahead. Study it if you wish.
I can't bear the way it makes me look--
       My eyes too close together
              dark blotches on my skin.
I'll say it needs to be re-silvered, but she won't have it.

She'll come at night sometimes
When she's alone.

I can't imagine what she sees.
Heaven only knows.