Magic Marker

Magic Marker DEAR PRUDENCE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS BY DAVID TRINIDAD NEWYORK: TURTLE POINT PRESS. 512 PAGES. $19.

In his first book, Pavane (1981), David Trinidad included a poem titled "The Peasant Girl," derived from Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Diamonds and Toads." The poet presents an unwanted girl who stoically keeps house for her stepmother until the day she is visited by a hideous crone who begs for a drink of well water; the girl complies, and, for a reward, die crone says, "Whenever you speak, / beautiful flowers and priceless gems shall flow / into the world with your words." The girl rushes home, anxious to tell

about the fairy and how I had passed her …