By the shadow of the Chicken Leg Shack

The sideways crab
could master the trick,
and some would remark,
"That crab is so quick!"
for he could run forward and back
by the shadow
of the chicken leg shack!
The spider no web nor weave devise, 


for she knows that to leave is most wise
by the shadow of the chicken leg shack.
Even mice would think twice
before stealing inside
and scant are the ants,
I shan't have lied --
each visitor shied
by the shadow
of the chicken leg shack.

Baba Yaga II

artist, Dmitri Mitrokhin

 Not Wanting to be Forgotten

Baba Yaga makes red spiders of all her toes

And pale little worms escape from her nose

Hairy all over she makes of her belly and

For eyes she lets seep a grey yellow jelly

If you don’t find this enough for a scare

She twirls in the air and makes snakes of her hair

 For Baba Yaga wants only to tease you,

She is sad if such frights fail to please you.

Ten Hairs (Warning: Might be Scary )

Painting by Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (Russian: Ви́ктор Миха́йлович Васнецо́в;




Ten Hairs
After the meadow the birches stand tall--
Enter the woods and there’s no light at all.
Run through the bramble, push at the brush,
Feel your heart pounding, confused at your rush.
Then in a swamp, a bit of dry land,
A house with no doors, it’s standing on sand,
On a large chicken leg with one naked claw--
The skin is toad bumpy and the flesh is red raw.

Do you know who could live in this terrible place?

In the mud and the sand there are flies in a chase for

A man wanders blind from a glance at her face:

Yes, the witch Baba Yaga is truly a fright.

She escapes through her chimney but only at night,

Screaming and cackling, loud at the moon,

She’ll spit out her teeth and sing you a tune.

If you listen, beware your ear will turn in

And push out a wart with ten hairs on your chin.

For a wonderful reading of the Baba Yaga story see the MYTHS AND LEGENDS site: http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/story117-baba-yaga-and-vasilisa-the-fair.html