FAIRY TALES in the time of COVID poems (let me know if you don’t see yours!)
From softest grass to tough concrete

The Big Bad Wolf did fall;

In front of him were empty streets

And not a pig at all.

No houses made of sticks and rocks

Or bits of straw and twine,

But block, and block, and block, and block

Of structural sublime.

“No breath of mine could knock these down!

And where are all the pigs?” he cried.

Distressed by the lack of meals in town

And the lack of anyone outside.

But wait!

A newspaper

Rolling down the street.

He picked it up for answers

And found them printed neat:

Pandemic!

Try baking!

The toilet paper’s gone!

“So all the pigs must be inside

In structures just as strong!”

And with this thought he almost wept

He hadn’t eaten in days.

A tragedy grotesque- except!

Look! There! Upon that page!

A recipe for no-knead bread

To suit the general baking craze!

Off he took, as fast as he could

To grab the last bag of flour from the grocery

(Wearing a mask, just as one should).

With paper and the flour in hand

He learned to bake (This was just the start!)

Bread, meat pies with pork obtained through legal means

And dishes all baked from the heart.

Who would’ve thought that breaths

For blowing down houses and causing dread

Heated from inside the Big Bad Wolf’s mouth

Are also pretty good at baking bread!

-Livia Cohen

****

A walk in the woods used to be numb

But now I’m prepared for whatever will come

A note in my hand

This walk sure feels grand

Soon there’s a rustle, right behind me

A wolf has jumped out I can clearly see

Thrusting the note out I must stay still

The wolf reads the note and slinks off with no meal

I run to the house I hope is all right

There Grandma sat, happy to see me in sight

She smiled and spoke, “How was your day?”

“Nothing attacked you. Is that what you’ll say?”

Yes, I had gone out, with a merry tune to sing

And somewhere in the woods, a wolf reads, SOCIAL DISTANCING.

-Chelsea Li

****

Yawning I stretch out,

Expecting to find the usual bark of a tree underneath me.

Instead I find a carpet the color of trout.

Did I teleport out of the tree?

Looking around I saw to pairs of feet walking towards my curled tail.

“Aw aren’t you a poor thing? How did you end up here?”

I screeched and screamed as I was picked up by two hands of large scale.

The lady looked at me in surprise as I grinned at her

“Why, I’ll name you Cheshire! Like Alice in Wonderland!”

I jumped out of her arms, a complete blur

Making for the door, the lady screamed something about being banned

From going outside

I shrugged, humans make no sense

I jump, crawl and slide

Through the house, until I reach the door, and sprint to the fence

Then I was out

Streets were empty and quiet, nobody walked on the sidewalks.

When Alice has visited and told about her world it was nothing like this, this looked like a drought

Of people, I raced down blocks.

It was the same everywhere in every neighborhood and every shop.

Maybe they had an evil queen who forced them all to stay in prisons?

-Iza Wilson

***

Because of quarantine, Aladdin’s in a very bad mood.

Though the streets are empty, Aladdin can’t get food.

For the stay-at-home order hasn’t been lifted.

But after looking at the money that he has just sifted,

He thinks: “I’ve got nothing – nothing at all!”

Then suddenly he gasps! “I know who to call!”

He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a lamp.

He rubs it – and out comes Genie, the wishing champ!

“Alright, Aladdin, you got three wishes,” Genie says.

“Wanna plane? Wanna tiger? Wanna nice, new fez?”

“I wish,” Aladdin says, “that I wasn’t so poor!”

Genie grins. Coins start raining. Down falls more and more and more.

“I wish,” Aladdin says, “That with the money, I’d have food!”

The money’s gone. Now there’s food. Aladdin’s in a real good mood.

But there’s one more wish! One more wish!

Should he wish for a fish in a dish?

A brand new cap? A baseball bat?

A pineapple that is big and fat?

“I wish,” Aladdin says, “That quarantine is done!”

No more virus in the air – now it’s time for fun!

Aladdin runs to find Abu – he dashes ‘round the bends,

For after, when he finds Abu, he’ll go play with his friends!

-Will McGough

***

Bambi,

Oh Bambi a calm

Mellow

deer, a

Quick

little guy,

Ferocious

as a bull

Or

an ox if you wish,

Bambi,

oh Bambi

-Natalie E. Greear

***

The Evil Queen was staring

At her enhanced reflection

When suddenly, the portal spun

And she landed in the time of infection

She looked around her apartment

Which was not quite a castle

And her drab little bed

With no royal colors or tassels

In the bathroom she found

Cupboards stocked with roll

Upon roll of soft white paper

Which she promptly threw down a hole

Then a little device started buzzing

The Huntsmen wants to FaceTime, it said

Curious, she tapped the green button

And saw her servants head

After talking for a while

And marveling at this strange town

The Evil Queen turned on a black box

And in her bed, she lay down

A man appeared on the box

Startled, she sat right back up

And watched as he blathered on

About social distancing stuff

The Evil Queen snarled and thought,

“Well, I’d better go find Snow White”

She went out on the empty streets

And promptly got in a fight

“What are you doing out here?

We have to protect ourselves

From the COVID-19 virus!”

She bashed that guy against the shelves

When she’d gotten yelled at

For not wearing a mask

She stumbled back to the apartment

“Mirror, may I ask –“

But the mirror on the wall

Did not sparkle or speak

The Evil Queen to her dismay

Was stuck on Earth during the peak

-Meaghan MacGregor