James Mullaney
SONNET TO LAURA ANN
For Hansel, Gretel's jazz slayed the dire wood.
Her native valor wowed the Brothers Grimm.
Their jaunt was vexed and fraught, Laura: A lewd
Hag stirred bhang round and round a cauldron's brim.
Hikers we two on a wood hollow path
Have shared a torch that cleft the raven dark.
A shrill hush; weird shadows; a gigue of death;
Flared by the Yggdrasill's numinous bark.
Still, trailways divide and trailmates must part,
So snap off a deadwood djinn and ignite
A blaze that purges this gnarled woodland heart
Where gnomes hunt snails and gremlins spit and bite.
Halved yet whole, our flame does not diminish.
Fancy a fairy tale forest's finish!
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