Snow White and the 7 Pygmies

Esther Vincent

my seven dear friends told me
what happened while I was sleeping
apparently a man disguised as a prince
tried to kiss me!

must have been some audacious explorer
thank god my friends woke me up in time
needless to say, he got what he deserved
he won’t be doing much kissing
anytime soon, or ever!

a little about my friends, they’ve often
been mistaken for dwarves
I don’t blame you if you thought the same–
not many have heard of pygmies

those poor souls have been oppressed, enslaved
and even eaten throughout history!
by sick creatures who think their flesh
have magical properties, barbarians!

but I love my pygmy friends
they made me feel like one of them
never questioned my lisp or stutter
never stared at my walk (I limp a little)

but most of all they never doubted
I was human just like them
you see, I have this congenital disorder
that colors my skin white, some say, like snow

 

Photo Credit: ssoosay Flickr via Compfight cc

Written by 

Esther Vincent is a poet from Singapore, who teaches Literary Arts and Literature at the School of the Arts, Singapore. She writes poetry that resonates on both personal and political levels and believes that poetry should empower, not exclude, engage, not evade. She was co-editor of a poetry anthology, Little Things (2013) and the accompanying Teacher's Guide (2013). Her poems have been published in New Asian Writing (Nov2016), Unhomed (2016), Sound of Mind (2014), LIVEPress Pilot (2014-2015), Little Things (2013), Ceriph #4 (2011) and in Message in a Bottle Poetry Magazine Editorial 13. Her poem, "Excuse me, what is your race?" was translated into Russian in To Go To S'pore (2013) by Kirill Cherbitski. She is currently working on a new collection of poems.

Other posts by author

2 thoughts on “Snow White and the 7 Pygmies”

  1. Thanks! I re-imagine alternative perspectives in my retelling of fairytales in this 4-part series. I had a lot of fun working on these poems and I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *