Once
not so long ago
almost too close for comfort
there was a girl.
She was only thirteen
too young for spindles, or frogs,
or towers or glass coffins or thorn hedges
or any other such Freudian symbol

but old enough
to feel strange…
deep inside her, something stirred…

Oh, not menstruation
That had happened when she was eleven
and it was explained
sex, and penises,
and all the other ugly words

But that was far in the future
a hazy Someday
Someday she will have sex and marry
and have babies and cook and clean and bake and sew
or maybe get a job
and fill the endless Somedays with that

But now was for daisies, and chains of clover
and sunny days and dancing with closed eyes
and the something… inside her…

it uncoiled, like a snake
flickered its forked tongue and said,
Take a bite. Ssss.
Taste my flesh, eat the apple, and become wise, ssss, wise in the ways of the world.
The young girl said, I have been sheltered
And my Something is beautiful, green and shiny and strong
And she reached out
And it bit her

she felt its venom running through her
and it made her want to shout
and jump, and spin
she held the snake close
and threw off her clothes and danced in the rain
cried Nothing can stop me!
and ran head on into her spinning wheel
and pricked her finger

stared in astonishment
at the single drop of blood
that slowly welled up
slowly ran over
slowly dropped
to the concrete below

and she looked around, hazily
but no thorn hedge sprang up to protect her
no high inaccessible tower
and she was naked, and alone
and it was raining
the snake said Come with me

and she looked
and she saw
that where it had touched the pavement
there was a glowing trail
like bread crumbs through the woods
so she followed it
back to her sunny meadow
which was somehow still sunny
miraculously

she held out her hand
and the Something took it
and together they made rings, and necklaces, and bracelets
and wreaths out of clover
and kissed each others’ fingertips
to make them all better
and danced happily
to a Mobious infinity.

Once
not so long ago
there was a girl.