Hansel & Gretel

stepmother didn’t like us

and father thought it fair

so they left us in the forest

back to our mother‘s care

she led us to a cottage

built of sugar and of stone

the town called her a witch

but she was really just alone

and so we settled in to the house of spice and bread

Hansel, Gretel, Mother together once again

but as we started growing

independence chafed our skin

we knew that mother loved us

but the forest caged us in

and so we started fighting, kicking at the walls

Hansel, Gretel, Mother doomed to take the fall

and so out we went

back to town we returned

but they called it an escape

and the witch, they said would burn

and all of our pleading fell on deaf ears

blind eyes to the safety that we had for years

disbelief that it was father who left us behind

dooming instead, our mother to die

And that’s how it ended, in tears and cruel laughter

Hansel, Gretel, Mother - never happily ever after