[With apologies to Mother Goose]
Little Miss Muffet determined to stay
plots on her tuffet as bravely she sits
needles in hand she prepares now to play,
two legs to eight, but rapier in wits.
Nursery rhyme loser? A girl who has fits?
Web spun over years into dark comedy.
Finger pricked in the snatch, spider flits
flails, then falls. Arthropodic tragedy.
Silken threads become elegant to the eye
blood dots cloth as she doth smart
needles weave and suddenly stop with spasm cry.
Game over. Venomous to the heart.
Curds and whey topple, she utters a moan
dead heat with spider, they lie on the stone.
Written for dVerse Poet’s Pub with Gayle tending bar. We’re asked to write a Bouts-Rimes which is French for Rymed Ends. This form began in the 17th century as a rhyming game. Gayle’s challenge: use the following fourteen words in the order presented: stay, sits, play, wits, fits, comedy, flits, tragedy, eye, smart, cry, heart, moan, stone. These words were borrowed from a sonnet by Edmund Spenser. These words, in this order, must be the end line rhymes. For me, another poetry sudoku!
The real Nursery Rhyme:
BY MOTHER GOOSE
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
lillian the home poet 
Clever bouncy write!
Anna :o]
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Just reworked it a bit this AM. Glad you enjoyed…..it sure was a stretch to write this one!
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Oh my goodness, I love this, Lillian! Tragic for both Miss Muffet and spider but win-win for your poem. Thanks for being up for the challenge today.
Gayle ~
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You are so kind, Gayle. Just rewrote a bit….rhyming poems I really struggle with but fun to do something with a nursery rhyme! 🙂
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Ah.. What a wonderful variety of the nursery rhyme… Battling with spiders might not be wise though…
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I do despise spiders! But, let’s make a femme fatale in a nursery rhyme! 🙂
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Sometimes the fear of spiders is a good thing. Perhaps Mother Goose knew what was best for Miss Muffet. 😉
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She sure did. Rather than a mousy frightened little girl, I prefer a femme fatale here! 🙂
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Great interpretation of the old rhyme. Certainly an upgrade, Lillian!
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Glad you liked it, Walt! Thanks for the read and kind words.
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I love this!! 😀
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Thanks! Thought a touch of dark humor might be fun — was really a reach for me to work with these words……a rhyming poet I’m not. But — fun to create a femme fatale rather than a frightened little girl here 🙂
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wow what a retelling of a classic fairytale! This is awesome. You packed so much into each line and I love the ending fatal twist at the end.
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Little Miss Muffet ala femme fatale!
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She was!
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I love the creative spin on the original nursery rhyme Lillian ~ This is very engaging to read ~
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Just did some retooling of it…….it’s still a stretch…..but glad you enjoyed!
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Ha. Very creative use of the words. I love this section:
“needles in hand she prepares now to play,
two legs to eight, but rapier in wits”
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So good to see your reply here……I really struggled wth these words! Glad you liked it!
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Fan.Freakin’.Tastic.
Nothing I love better than a fractured nursery rhyme or fairy tale.
My favorite:
“two legs to eight, but rapier in wits.”
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Smiling I am! This one took hours and hours so am very very glad folks liked it! 🙂 Fractured fairy tale — forgotten that reference. Yep — that’s what I tried to do. 🙂
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Just pure brilliance. Your muse was on overdrive, lillian.
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Oh my Victoria…..you have no idea how appreciated your words are here. I struggled and struggled with this prompt……not being a rhyming kind of writer, even when the rhyming words are given. Have no idea how Miss Muffet came to mind but she did………write and rewrite and rewrite. So — very very happy to see your kind words! Makes all the time spent on this femme fatale quite worth the effort 🙂
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Well, Lil, your struggles were far from evident, as your dark side Mother Goose propelled us off balance, tickled, even saddened us. What a clever & imaginative way to treat the prompt.
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Ah.. Nursery rhymes
race with spider
and human
legs..
tie to be
fit.. exercise
of hairy
legs..;)
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