The Poor Girl's Guide to Becoming a Princess
listen
to the murmuring
of servants
gossip flutters
a bird adrift
on wayward winds
princesses —
beaten, cast out
for lacking proper fragility
rich gowns
made of heavy textiles
are easily stolen
wait
for a tempest
thunder, lightening, torrents
dripping, wet
a trickling mess
in stolen clothes
Help! I am
a princess, a real
princess lost!
Well!
says the Queen
We'll see about that!
a ladder leans
against a tower of mattresses
a monolith of feather beds
beneath copious
layers of satin, silk, damask
a single pea
alone in the dark
strike skin with a tea spoon
until it blooms blue
sleep sound,
dreaming of delicacies,
upon a bed of clouds
morning wakes
a refrain of sparrow calls
in the yellow light
at breakfast, say
Oh! How horrid
I've slept!
What a boulder
there must have been
beneath the sheets!
present forearms
pocked with black bruises
as evidence
trumpets! fanfaire!
a wedding feast
a princely kiss
smile
a secret
smile
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YOU ARE READING
Over the Hill and through the Woods (Attys)
Puisi"Over the Hill and through the Woods" is a collection of poems inspired by fairy tales and folk lore. It will also be home to the poems I intend to submit to the Attys. Cover art is by Ivan Bilibin (edited to suit my needs) and is in the public do...
