Nothing is stronger than a mother’s love.
She is witch and woman.
Maternal horror and nightmare to all.

When blood creeped down
Rapunzel’s legs, her mother knew
It was time.

“A room is a small thing of walls,
but your mind is so much more.
We must protect you.”

The witch was right as only a woman can be.

The men came from all over,
calling to young Rapunzel,
“Let down your hair. Open your legs.
That’s how we’ll teach you to behave.”

Rapunzel let down her hair,
wrapping it around their necks,
slicing her tendrils off in chunks.

She loves watching their bodies sway.
The chiming of their bones taught her to dance.
The yells of their surprise taught her to sing.
The pull of their hands taught her to fight.

Her mother helped her survive,
trapped in a world full of hungry, wolfish men.