Rumpelstiltskin

A contemporary take

Inspired by this year’s anthology theme for my poetry group I’ve been looking at the idea of other worlds, not least the world of the fairy story. There’s a wealth of material here, much of which can shed light on the modern world. Fairy stories always had a function as moral tales as well as tales of wonder, and the mix provides plenty of scope for modern interpretation and imagination.

One of the oldest fairy stories is said to be that of Rumpelstiltskin, a tale of greed and deceit, selfishness and downfall – and just begs to be used in today’s climate. My response is below – and, yes, I was tempted to put a T at the beginning of the name, but felt that would be overkill…

Rumpelstiltskin

He sits in his lair
spinning straw into gold

little realising that straw
keeps the animals warm
makes hats
thatches roofs
mulches gardens
while gold simply

corrupts 
driving selfishness 
sucking the oxygen of care
from the atmosphere
leaving
only 

greed 
for possession
for territory
greed
for which he will sacrifice

his own people 
and the people of the world

Image courtesy of Nina Laakso under creative commons