Rumpelstiltskin Keeps Changing His Name

I guess his name

And he laughed at me

I changed it

He said

I changed my name

You can’t do that

I said, I said

Why not?
He asked

When blue can turn red?

When birds

Can turn to dogs

And trees

Can turn to ash

The world allows us

To change as we please

So I’ve changed my name

--And he let out a sneeze

Sure as can be

He turned into a box

A mailbox

And on it

Was painted

A fox

The fox laughed

With Rumpelstiltskin’s laugh

And I ran but he chased me

Then split right in half

Two foxes

Running through the woods

Telling me to turn around

And face him

Face him

But then he would replace him

Two big ogres

Chasing me down

Through the forest

Into the town

Once there

I knocked on doors

And begged for assistance

But all I found

Was shunning

And resistance

Nobody wanted

To mess with the troll
Who could change himself

And change his name

And wasn’t I foolish

To play his game?

A queen is not protected

When she’s elected

To barter her baby

For maybe

A chance

At a golden crown

I heard his ogre footsteps

As he hunted me down

But I turned to confront him

And when I did

He transformed into

A nine-year-old kid

A goat, I should say

Not a child

Something wild

His horns all curled

His hair a-whirled

And he kicked up the dirt

As he readied to hurt

I asked him if I could guess a name

That he would love so much

He wouldn’t care to touch it

Even if it meant

Snatching my son

And when I was done

With my pitch

Rumpelstiltskin became a witch

But with a cackle

He agreed

That I would be freed

If I guessed a new name

That he’d like to claim

So I ran through a list

Although I’m sure I missed

A few

But a clue

Popped up

When his eyebrow rose

As I stumbled upon

The name ‘Rose’

It turns out that Rumple

Was always quite grumpled 

At having a name

So long

He preferred the name Rose

And that’s how it goes

The baby I kept

The villagers slept

And Rose wept

When he got

His new name

Now I don’t have much fame

As a queen who did a lot

I kept to myself

And read books on my shelf

But I’m still quite well renowned

For running through town

Then stopping to ask

What someone

Would like

To be called