November 2021
Bio Note: I am a father of three daughters, and after retirement from public librarianship, I took a poetry writing course at Carlow College in Carlow, Ireland. I am now in the Master's Creative Writing - Poetry program at University of Illinois, Chicago. I often form poems while bicycling or walking.
The Father of Hansel and Gretel
The story does not begin
the day he left Hansel
and Gretel in the woods.
Before that,
he would get up during the night,
change the diaper, bring their baby
to bed to nurse
and return the baby to the crib.
Saturdays alone with his children,
they ran in circles
to the amplified sounds of Van Morrison’s
“Real Real Gone.”
Too many times he saw
the pleading look
in the eyes of his children
that he intervene
in their punishment.
Silently passively standing
in the kitchen
as Hansel was yelled at
or in the car enduring
the fury which sent car keys flying
Gretel crying.
Remember how the father wept for joy
when the first time he abandoned them
in the woods, Hansel left white stones
to find the way back.
The story does not end
father and children reunited
after the witch was pushed into the oven.
They all grew older,
wounded.
©2021 James Madigan
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