"cinderella" by Larry Schug

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “cinderella” by Larry Schug.  Larry has published seven books of poetry. He is a volunteer writing tutor at the College of St. Benedict and a volunteer Naturalist at Outdoor U. at St. John's University.  He lives with his wife, dog, and two cats beside a large tamarack bog in St. Wendel Township, Minnesota.

cinderella 

i woke wishing i was entangled 

with a euro-trash cinderella, 

who wanted to smash  

all the glass slippers in the world

loosen the wheels and free all the horses 

of every princess-carrying coach

a girl with a stud in her nose

and a small tattoo of a spider on her shoulder

who looked like my friend danica

but with a dirty face and jet black hair

round eyes that see right into you

and sneer at all the prince charmings

and i wished we were both ragged and thin as old jeans

and wore torn army jackets as we snuck around

bleak abandoned streets 

of some post-industrial eastern european city 

maybe in czechoslovakia or poland, some dark place

so hungry our minds were clear as ice

and that at night we sheltered in a bombed-out warehouse

and were the only ones left in this city

but still afraid because of roaming packs of wild dogs

and because the night sky clouds the color of dead skin 

were lit from below by an electric glow

and we talked only with our eyes.

--Larry Schug

Poet's Notes:  Thanks, of course, to Cracker for their song "Euro-trash Girl" (see Editor’s Note).  I just took the story of Cinderella a bit farther in time.  I also found the poem wanting a post-industrial setting.  I'm not sure if Cinderella lived happily ever after or not.

Editor’s Note:  All poets are rebels.  Some even live a rebel lifestyle, but most do so only through their words.  This poem should resonate well with all the true and wannabe rebels out there.  

The poem has a strong beginning, setting the reader up for an avant-garde experience and pleasing the ears with its inter-line rhyme on "-ash".  The narrative of the poem does not disappoint, and the ending is also strong.  I particularly like the "dead skin" metaphor three lines from the end and the intra-line rhyme in the penultimate line.  The final line speaks volumes.

Enjoy a video of Cracker performing “Euro-trash Girl” here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38Vun2LYnoY.