RAPUNZEL

you

who have not seen anything from your

erect tower

but the head of the trees,

the beautiful curves of the mountains far ahead,

the bare breadth of the sky –

you,

who have never felt the earth hard against your feet,

will listen to the prince’s tale about the world.

you believe him

forgetting his weight on your head

as he climbed up the tower through your strong hair.

he is the witch

and he lived happily ever after.

Jonasyl Aubrey Auxtero wrote this poem for her undergraduate gender and literature class as a creative critical analysis of Rapunzel. She recently moved to Darwin after finishing her masters degree in the Philippines and working as a language instructor in Malaysia.