Bedtime Story
...a different take each night tonight Red Riding Hood
and you
(your head on the pillow)
become her walking along a forest path
primroses birdsong mingling with the sent of pine
a wolf's breath hot on your neck
(your head still on the pillow)
the story takes a turn - turning the page
lost in a murder mystery among the trees in its story line -
you are that terrified woman
(your head still on the pillow)
your scream is glued between your lips
your feet moss over beginning to take root in the mist.
Unable to escape the wolf its jaws
the raised blade of the axeman
falls
(your head still on the pillow)
your heart is a beaten drum you can’t escape
the axe head
embedded in your chest its whack
a soft paw on your nose
(your head still on the pillow)
the cat's unblinking grey/green eyes become
the eyes of your father locking onto yours
as you walk past his portrait up the stairs.
Miriam Obrey lives in Shropshire and is a member of The Border Poets. Her poems have appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies including The North, The Rialto, Quadrant and The Gift, Oxford Poets 2007. Her pamphlet 'A Case for More Heads' was published by Flarestack in 1996.
