The Paranoic Little Red Riding Hood

The endless wood spanned many leagues.
Grey cobwebs, damp, a blinking crow,
spies trapped a girl among the snow.
Eyes young, but blind in fields of trees.
An isle in seas of leaves.

So many years since here was led,
in fear of losing all she had.
The sky now restless, grey and sad,
and all the forest calls her mad
for wearing scarlet red,
the hue of love encloaking dread.

So long and low she wonders lost,
in mazes made by witches' will,
and every path is clad in frost,
each nervous step is crissed and crossed.
Eternally she crawls through loss
yet stays forever still.

© Mark Sheeky. Permission is required for reproduction.