said she didn't know anything about ovens,
so the witch crawled in to show her
and Bam! went the big door.
Then she strolled out to the shed where
her brother was fattening, knocked down
a wall, and lifted him high in the air.
Not long after the adventure in the forest
Gretel married so she could live happily.
Her husband was soft like Hansel. Her
husband liked to eat.
Ever after was the size of a kitchen.
Gretel remembered when times were better.
She'd laughed out loud when the witch
popped like a weenie.
"Gretel! Stop fooling around and fix
my dinner."
"There's something wrong with this oven,"
she says, her eyes bright as treasure.
"Can you come here a minute?"
- Ron Koertge
After last year's fun, I couldn't stand to miss this year's Blogger's Silent Poetry Reading, so I'm late to the party, but I'm bringing Malabrigo, so I hope I'm forgiven.
Koertge was faculty in my MFA program. Think Billy Collins as a dirty old man with less critical acclaim, wearing pajamas and flirting with the former-stripper-turned-writer-for-kids.
Gretel is Raveled here.
And for those of you who read to the bottom, take a sneak peek here at the magic that's coming to Fricknits in a few days!
very very beautiful! i love the color. it's perfect for that pattern.
Posted by: Marnie | March 28, 2008 at 01:58 PM
Ohh, looks exciting...you're always cooking up something!
Posted by: Heather | March 28, 2008 at 01:58 PM
That is so pretty.
Posted by: kim | March 28, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Oh my wow! That's a lot of yarn.
I love Gretel. Great color.
Posted by: SpiderWomanKnits | March 28, 2008 at 03:19 PM
Great Gretel! I was just given two skeins of Malabrigo worsted in Polar. Hmm...
Fun poem!
Posted by: Brenda | March 28, 2008 at 05:36 PM
such a pretty hat! these days I'm such a sucker for a great hat pattern...
Posted by: victoria | March 28, 2008 at 05:39 PM
RavelRaiser?!?? Ohboyohboyohboy!!
Posted by: Bertha | March 28, 2008 at 06:50 PM
ohhhhhh!
it's lovely.
Posted by: knitxcore | March 28, 2008 at 06:51 PM
Love your Gretel -- that malabrigo is such a great color (and it's cooling off here again tonight, so you should have some chance to wear it)!
and woo! RavelRaiser, fun!
Posted by: jess | March 28, 2008 at 07:01 PM
I've been ogling the pictures in your flickr account for days now. Looks like you're up to something good!
Posted by: Ruth | March 28, 2008 at 08:26 PM
Wow - I love your Gretel. And I love the Mmmmmalabrigo. Gorgeous color variation! Excited for the contest! =)
Posted by: ashpags | March 28, 2008 at 10:01 PM
"Think Billy Collins as a dirty old man with less critical acclaim, wearing pajamas and flirting with the former-stripper-turned-writer-for-kids."1
Is it shallow of me that reading that descriptor altered my response to the poem?
Love the colour of your Gretel.
And RavelRaiser?! The name alone is enough to make me smile. The prizes are gorgeous.
Posted by: Miss Scarlett | March 29, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Really cool. Reminds me of a sand dollar.
Posted by: Barb | March 29, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Wow!! That is some prettty amazing loot for the prizes!
Gretle is a beauty! With poetry and Malibrigo in hand you can come late to the party any time!
Posted by: Kirsten | March 29, 2008 at 03:04 PM
A teaser at the end! Yikes. Something tells me I need to check Ravelry a bit more often!
Posted by: Laura Sue | March 30, 2008 at 03:13 PM
what a lovely gretel!! i love the color, i may need to make another! :-) can't wait to ravel raise!
Posted by: margaux | March 30, 2008 at 05:17 PM
I just read your Funny Valentine post. What a heart-warmer!
You gretel looks so elegant yet squishable, the perfect combination, lol.
Posted by: Val | March 30, 2008 at 05:28 PM
Absolutely gorgeous as always :) I love that color of Malabrigo--it has to be the perfect shades of grey.
Oh and those prizes look divine. I've been drooling over them on Flickr...
Posted by: Alice | March 31, 2008 at 09:51 AM
Gorgeous Gretel. I'm thoroughly convinced that Malabrigo is the perfect yarn for hats. My brain twitched when it said Gretel got married so she could live happily. A line like is a foreshadowing in fairy tales and real life.
Posted by: Kim | March 31, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Gretel is fantastic!
Posted by: tiennie | April 01, 2008 at 01:03 AM
That was definitely my stand-out favourite out of all the poems I've seen posted.
Those identi-Kools are gorgeous, btw. The top photo made me smile.
Posted by: Kate | April 02, 2008 at 09:54 PM
I think I may have found my first malabrigo project now...
Posted by: stinkerbell | April 08, 2008 at 09:37 AM