Little girls
shouldn’t skip through the woods
on the way to grandmother’s house,
chasing sunbeams
that glitter and flicker
like butterlfies dancing in the wind.
Little girls should fear
the big, bad wolf

lurking behind the fluttering leaves
that hide brambles snatching at matted fur
and claws that scritch-scratch
along a path that slinks in shadows
just beyond the sight of little girls
who should fear the big bad wolf.

Little girls
shouldn’t hide smooth river stones
in their apron pockets,
stones hurled from slingshots
to crack against snarling teeth
that once gleamed in moonlight
from the menacing maw of a big, bad wolf
who now feears little girls skipping through the woods.

After watching and reading the April poetry challenge by Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading for the past several years, I decided to write a poem a day this month. Mary Lee is hosting PO-EMotion, with a different emotion for each day of the month. Today’s focus is FEAR. For even more poetry fun throughout April, check out the roundup of poetry celebrations and projects at Jama’s Alphabet Soup. Click the links above to discover today’s poems and more.