queer theory Sleeping Beauty
Blood, of course, is always allegory:
the hibiscus of virginity spreads
gaudy petals on thighs
white as snow.
Remember that, and imagine
what a spindle might be.
The bad fairy's gift: an aversion
to spindles. Remember:
the baby's royal
breeding stock.
That's a curse.
Things get jumbled up
in stories, in history;
probably they hid
all the milkmaids,
not the spindles. Spindles
they left everywhere,
only played
at concealment,
tried to tempt her
into looking.
And then:
she didn't even die; just fell
asleep. Dreamt of hibiscus,
wet and pink
(symbolic)
and, more transparently,
milkmaids' white thighs.