Carol Alexander O Wicked Stepmother She wasn’t even mine, I had to borrow her. In her likeness, we wore cheap brass chains and scarlet mouths honied with plausible lies. That woman spent her days letting the garden rot the…
Richelle Buccilli Cinderella Thinks About Motherhood after Lana Hechtman Ayers Praise the birds who still come to sing here. Praise the sunlight making dust appear biblical, possible spinning in its own cloud of light like a child imagining freedom.…
Kristin Indorato Mouths here we are at the end of the story and in this adaptation, the wicked stepmother is simply gone when the children return, having foiled the witch with a chicken bone and pushed her into the…
Abriana Jetté Persephone Responds Fast ships slow snakes at the bottom of the sea. Every earth born creature stood still the day he came for me. The downward dive compels a Vesuvian festoon a vertiginous release that smells like…
Tina Kelley Just One More, Mama “Wicked” and “step” are the only kinds of mothers. Name one mom left breathing in Disneyland. Orphaned: Bambi, Cinderella, Snow White. Scraping by with just dad: Belle, Jasmine, Ariel. Sent to inadequate foster…
Michael Montlack Stevie Nicks as Fairy Godmother How we run to her, extending our hearts skinned like knees, knowing she has the bandage. A twirl of gauze. Hoarse from all her hollering: Beware love! Look how it’s sent me…
Mireya Perez-Bustillo A Cow Jumped Over the Moon To a bovine dubbed Molly Return to “Storied Mothers.” Mireya Perez -Bustillo’s poetry searches for…
Jeri Theriault Demeter in the sixth stage of grief Return to “Storied Mothers.” Jeri Theriault’s poetry collections include Radost, My Red and the…
Sherre Vernon Photograph, As I’d Have You See Me Return to “Storied Mothers.” Sherre Vernon (she/her/hers) is the author two award-winning chapbooks: Green Ink Wings (fiction), and The Name…
Jane Yolen Bambi Haiku An old book opens. A fawn loses his mother. Yes, there will be tears. A child ‘s first movie. My age? I was only four. The skunk was no help. I kept on screaming: “Bad…