Sonnet To Laura Ann Poem by James Mullaney

For Hansel, Gretel's jazz slayed the dire wood.
Her native valor wowed the Brothers Grimm.
Their jaunt was vexed and fraught, Laura: a lewd
hag stirred bhang round and round a cauldron's brim.
Hikers we two on a wood hollow path
have shared a torch that cleft the raven dark.
A shrill hush; weird shadows; a gigue of death;
flared by the Yggdrasil's numinous bark.
Still, trailways divide and trailmates must part,
so snap off a deadwood djinn and ignite
a blaze that purges this gnarled woodland heart
where gnomes hunt snails and gremlins spit and bite.
Halved yet whole, our flame does not diminish.
Fancy a fairy tale forest's finish!